BRUSSELS — The European Union should follow scientific guidance, European Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera told POLITICO after the bloc’s climate advisers criticized Brussels’ plans to weaken a critical climate target.
The EU’s scientific advisory board on climate change on Monday warned against using international carbon credits to meet the bloc’s 2040 emissions-reduction goal, saying doing so would undermine the EU’s climate credibility.
Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra has floated carbon credits as an option to give member governments leeway on the 2040 target, which the EU executive wants to set at 90 percent below 1990 levels. His proposal is expected on July 2.
While Ribera did not address carbon credits directly, she suggested the EU should follow the board’s advice — comments that hint at divisions between her and Hoekstra.
