Paris Climate Agreement and EU Climate Targets

Under the Paris Climate Agreement, the EU must do its utmost to ensure that its climate targets are in line with its “highest possible ambition” and can make an appropriate contribution to limiting global warming. The level of climate targets must be determined on the basis of various climatological, value-based, ecological, economic, and social factors. On the one hand, such a complex assessment naturally requires a certain degree of discretion. On the other hand, the Paris Climate Agreement sets legally reviewable limits on the exercise of discretion.

According to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a state can be ordered by a court to set an appropriate contribution to climate protection. “Courts cannot replace political decisions and set climate targets themselves,” explains cep climate law expert Götz Reichert. “But they can challenge obvious breaches of the due diligence obligation.”

In addition, the EU must align its future climate policy after 2030 not only with the 2040 EU climate target, but also with the 2035 EU NDC. The Paris Climate Agreement does not oblige the EU and its Member States to achieve these climate targets. “However, they must make every effort to do so in accordance with their due diligence obligation. To this end, they are obliged to take appropriate climate protection measures,” Reichert emphasises.