As the EU Commission prepares to present its “Fit for 55” legislative package, the European CEO Alliance has issued policy recommendations supporting a progressive and ambitious push to achieve climate neutrality. Tackling climate change requires strong collaboration between the public sector and industry, the Alliance announced after its meeting today in Paris. The Alliance would welcome a review of the EU’s major regulatory instruments, in particular subsidies for technologies with high CO2 emissions. The CEOs’ proposals include sending a strong carbon pricing signal, accelerating measures to decarbonize mobility and transport, facilitating the transformation of the buildings sector and speeding up the restructuring and renewal of the energy system in all EU member states.
”I am very pleased to have been able to exchange views today with the companies that provide solutions for the implementation of the Green Deal, the decarbonisation of the economy, green transition and energy efficiency. As the European Commission prepares to present its “Fit for 55” energy and climate package with measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent in 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality in 2050, the mobilization of industrial and economic players will be essential to achieving our climate objectives together,” said Clément Beaune, Secretary of State for European Affairs in the French government.
”With the unique cross sector and cross country CEO Alliance we are able to make a difference. Our project within the CEO Alliance aims to establish European-wide markets for green hydrogen and its derivates, that makes green hydrogen the second energy carrier of the energy transition. With renewable energies in particular, in addition to the non-electrifiable applications, we are often faced with the fundamental challenge: They are available only when wind and sun allows.
With hydrogen as an energy carrier, we can store green energy and transport it to places where it is needed in hard to abate sectors, for example for the production of climate-neutral, so-called “green steel.” Green hydrogen can also contribute to decarbonization in the heating sector, distributed via the widely ramified gas network. By using hydrogen, we are giving the process of decarbonization a significant boost,” added E.ON’s CEO, Leonhard Birnbaum.
As one central instrument, Alliance members proposed a strong carbon price signal to achieve the EU’s climate targets. Carbon should have a price, no matter in which sector it is emitted. The Alliance also called for continued enhancement of the EU’s Emissions Trading System (for power and heavy industry) and for the implementation of additional sector-specific cap-and-trade systems that would apply to mobility, transport and the buildings sector.
