Industry and Civil Society Join Push for Climate Neutral Economy

The European Commission’s Long Term Decarbonization Strategy “A Clean Planet for All” showed that renewable and decarbonized electricity must increase significantly, replacing fossil fuels in Europe’s energy mix, as a precondition to meeting climate and energy objectives. 

Electrification has the potential to profoundly reshape Europe’s economy, revitalise its industry and ensure a clean and healthy environment for its citizens. It can drastically cut  Europe’s €5 billion per week bill for fuel imports, reduce energy consumption by 4-8 times and address the severe health risks associated with poor air quality.

To fulfil the vision of climate neutrality, necessary investments in network infrastructure, smart solutions and renewable energy generation must start now. Policies must be geared towards this objective.

The Declaration released today calls on EU policymakers to deliver a meaningful Green Deal and fast-track Europe’s electrification by:

• Mainstreaming clean and direct electrification in the heating, cooling and transport sectors (including heat pumps and electric vehicles), as the most cost-effective and energy efficient strategy to address climate change;
• Supporting a robust industrial strategy towards climate neutrality to ensure Europe’s leadership in renewables-based, decarbonized and digital electricity solutions including electrolyzers;
• Ensuring that investments in energy networks, especially smart electricity grids, support the transition to a climate neutral economy;
• Modernizing the energy taxation regime to accelerate the shift towards decarbonizing electricity consumption and increased uptake of clean electricity in end-use sectors;
• Securing sufficient financing in the EU budget to support regions and Member States with a different starting point, including a meaningful Just Energy Transition Fund;
• Targeting Research and Innovation funding to accelerate a cost-effective transition in hard to abate sectors (e.g. cement, shipping, aviation), notably through an increase of the Horizon Europe budget to €120 billion.

Upon the release of the Declaration, Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation and co-architect of the Paris Agreement, said, “The Electrification Alliance is delivering a clear signal to European Union decision-makers that they should be confident in committing to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Electrification must be the dominant way forward in the clean energy transition – and European businesses are prepared to pave the way. This, hand in hand with the European Green Deal, is a unique opportunity to carve out the EU’s leadership on climate action and decarbonisation on the global stage”.

The Electrification Alliance, founded in 2017, gathers advocates of the Paris Climate Agreement in a call to recognize renewable, clean and smart electricity as the key energy carrier for an efficient and decarbonized European future. In doing so, the Alliance members are working towards enabling technologies to advance Europe’s competitiveness, economic growth, job creation, and the promotion of a sustainable society for European citizens.