Climate change: Council adopts EU long-term strategy for submission to the UNFCCC

The Council today adopted the EU’s long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategy on behalf of the EU and its member states. This will now be forwarded to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as required by the Paris Agreement.

The EU’s strategy recalls the full commitment of the EU and its member states to the Paris Agreement and its long-term goals. It refers to the endorsement by the European Council, as reflected in the conclusions of its meeting of 12 December 2019, of the objective of achieving a climate-neutral EU by 2050. By agreeing and delivering on ambitious social and economic transformation, the EU and its member states are aiming to inspire global climate action and demonstrate that moving towards climate neutrality is not only imperative but also feasible and desirable.

Individual member states are also required to prepare their own national strategies for submission to the UNFCCC. The EU urges all parties to the Paris Agreement to communicate their strategies by 2020 in accordance with the Paris Agreement.

• Submission to the UNFCCC on behalf of the European Union and its Member States
• European Council conclusions of 12 December 2019
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, (2019) “Special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels”
• Climate Change and Land: An IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems
• IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate
• 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
• European Commission Communication (COM(2019) 640) ‘The European Green Deal’
• European Commission Communication (COM(2018)773) ‘A Clean Planet for all: A European strategic long-term vision for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate neutral economy’
• In-depth analysis in support of the Commission Communication (COM(2018)773)
• Climate change: what the EU is doing
• Taking the lead on climate change (multimedia story