Shifting gears: achieving climate neutrality by 2050
b'Is the EU executing the decisive gear-shift that is needed to not only meet its own ambitious climate targets and agree on its vision for climate neutrality by 2050, but to successfully lead the way globally?\\n\\nExperts gathered at the Friends of Europe debate \\u2018Shifting gears: achieving climate neutrality by 2050\\u2019 \\u2013 held in Brussels on 19 February \\u2013 to assess where Europe is at, what it needs to do, where it\\u2019s going and whether it will arrive on time.\\n\\nModerator and Director of Insights at Friends of Europe, Dharmendra Kanani said that with a new Commission in place and its ambitions stated via the European Green Deal, the imminent unveiling of the new European Climate Law, the assessment of member states\\u2019 National Energy and Climate Plans, and the COP26 coming up in Glasgow in November, it\\u2019s an interesting time for the climate agenda that has a \\u201clast chance saloon\\u201d feeling about it.\\n\\n\\u201cEveryone is really thinking of Glasgow as the tipping point that we should look forward to \\u2013 but should it be, can it be, given all the different drivers that are at play, not least politics?\\u201d he said, adding that the constant re-negotiation of targets was delaying action.\\n\\nParticipants heard perspectives from the International Energy Agency, the private sector\\u2019s Electricit\\xe9 de France (EDF), the European Commission Directorate-General for Energy, and Climate Action Network Europe.\\n\\nThere was agreement that more needed to be done to create the conditions for consumers to more easily transition to renewable energy sources, and that Europe \\u2013 which accounts for 9% of global CO2 emissions \\u2013 must use its ambition to take an assertive leading role in getting other countries on board with tackling the climate emergency.\\n\\nMore info: https://www.friendsofeurope.org/events/shifting-gears-achieving-climate-neutrality-by-2050/'