Council adopts EU strategy for submission to the UNFCCC

Brussels [ENA] The Council 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.

The European Union (EU) and its Member States are fully committed to the Paris Agreement and its long-term goals, and call for urgently enhanced global ambition in light of the latest available science including the recent reports released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The EU urges all Parties to the Paris Agreement to communicate by 2020 their mid- century long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in accordance with the Article 4, paragraph 19 of the Paris Agreement.

On 12 December 2019 the European Council , taking note of the Communication of the European Commission on the European Green Deal , endorsed the objective of achieving a climate-neutral EU by 2050, in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement and in the light of the latest available science and of the need to step up global climate action. The endorsement of the climate neutrality objective was reached following an inclusive institutional and societal debate based on the strategic long-term vision proposed by the European Commission which includes a detailed analysis of solutions that could be pursued for the transition to a net zero greenhouse gas emissions economy and

insights regarding the corresponding strategic priorities and an enabling framework that would allow reaching climate neutrality by 2050. In accordance with Article 4.19 of the Paris Agreement, the EU Member States prepare their national long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies and submit them to the UNFCCC. By agreeing and delivering on the ambitious social and economic transformation, the EU and its Member States aim to inspire global climate action and demonstrate that moving towards climate neutrality is not only imperative, but also feasible and desirable.

The EU and its Member States stand ready to engage with all Parties to ensure the timely delivery of robust and ambitious long-term low greenhouse emission development strategies in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. These strategies must reflect the need to step up collective ambition and provide the long-term policy guidance necessary to limit the intensifying impacts of climate change.