Europe’s climate change policies: The Paris Agreement and beyond

ABSTRACT

This article discusses Europe’s climate change policies with an insight into the targets of 2015 Paris Agreement (keeping global temperature below 2°C and achieving zero carbon emissions in the second half of the century). Even though the European Union (EU) member states have increased their consumption of renewables and reduced their greenhouse gas emissions, oil remains the biggest energy source for Europe. This article argues that while the EU member states can achieve the targets of their climate pledges under the Paris climate mechanism with their current climate change policies, the large share of oil in European energy consumption may keep Europe from reaching its goal of zero-carbon economy.

KEYWORDS:

• Climate change policies
• Europe
• greenhouse gases
• the Paris Agreement
• zero-carbon economy