Consultation for the EU climate target for 2040

Climate change remains the defining challenge of the coming decades. The detrimental effects of global warming are becoming more frequent and evident, with devastating impacts across the globe.

The EU has set out its climate targets for 2030 and 2050 and is agreeing and setting in motion the policy measures needed to meet the 2030 target and accelerate emissions reductions. Considering the nature of the transformation, the time and extent of policy and economic decisions and the importance of avoiding carbon lock-in, a clear GHG reduction path beyond 2030 towards the 2050 climate neutrality objective is needed.

The European Climate Law (Art. 4) calls on the Commission to make a proposal to set an intermediate Union-wide climate target for 2040 with a view to achieving the climate neutrality objective by 2050 and to publish a report on the projected indicative GHG budget for 2030-2050.

The initiative aims at proposing the 2040 climate target, in view of an amendment to the European Climate Law. The proposed target will strengthen certainty and predictability for political choices and investment decisions. Without a 2040 climate target, the EU would be at risk of missing its domestic climate objective for 2050.

RICS position

As a leading organisation operating in the built environment, we firmly believe that ambitious climate targets are necessary to address the urgent challenges of climate change.

RICS encourages the EU to ensure, through the EPBD recast, that new buildings and refurbishments will be required to be both energy and carbon efficient over their whole life cycles, as well as contribute to the uptake of the circular economy in the construction sector.

Professionals working in the Built Environment have a responsibility to work together to reduce this figure and identify where reductions in carbon emissions can be made. A consistent approach to measuring and reporting carbon throughout the life cycle of a project is key to achieving this.

To help the industry achieve this, RICS developed the second edition of Whole life carbon assessments in the built environment - a standard which mandates a methodology to track all carbon emissions from the production of materials, construction process, use and disposal of built assets over their entire life cycle.

Our public response to the EU Climate Targets for 2020 can be found in the attached document or at the following link: Feedback from: RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) (europa.eu).

For more information, please contact vsepe@rics.org.