The responsibility of the EU in climate change mitigation: What is wrong with the recent EU targets?

Abstract

The European Union (EU) is a leading actor in climate international negotiations and a path-breaking example of sustainability. However, the EU’s current agenda on climate change has been built by disregarding essential features of this global process: accumulation of greenhouse gases over time, cascading regimen shifts within and across scales, and tipping points. We examine whether the EU’s recently declared climate targets are consistent with a reasonable allocation of responsibilities concerning global carbon budgets. This is relevant because the assumption of appropriate climate responsibilities is paramount for the collective coordination of polycentric actions towards the agreed common goal. We find that the current EU climate policy is inconsistent with the aspiration of preventing the +1.5 °C or +2 °C average global temperature increase in 2100, compared to preindustrial levels. We argue that the EU should aim for more responsible policies coherent with its responsible share of the global budget.