2030 renewable energy target will cut costs and kick-start sluggish European economies

Brussels, 18th April 2013. - “The renewable energy sector needs predictability and stability beyond 2020. This is best provided for by a binding 2030 renewable energy target and needs to be combined with an energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction target”, said Rainer Hinrich-Rahlwes, President of EREC.In the report, EREC set out the reasons why European climate and energy policy should be based on a hat-trick of targets for renewable energy, energy efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction, as this yields more benefits than a one-legged policy based on a supposedly ‘technology-neutral’ GHG-only approach.
“The message is simple: if you want to lower costs, create jobs, replace fossil fuel imports and drive innovation, competitiveness and investment, then a hat-trick of climate and energy goals works best”, said Hinrichs-Rahlwes.
“The successful economies of the next decades will be those which decrease resource use and greenhouse gas emissions while creating new businesses through technology leadership, technology deployment and increasing employment the way renewable technologies do”, concluded Hinrichs-Rahlwes.
View the full 'Hat-trick 2030' publication here.