Renewable energy targets reduce costs and contribute to economic growth

At the occasion of the EC high-level stakeholder conference on “A 2030 framework for climate and energy policies”, the European Renewable Energy Council releases its key recommendations to the consultation on the 2030 Green Paper, including that renewable energy targets will be critical to reduce energy costs in the long term¹.

“The 2020 binding renewable energy target has given Europe a first-mover advantage”, said Rainer Hinrichs-Rahlwes, President of the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC).
“The renewables target helped to bring over one million people into employment and boosted the EU’s economy, while developing cutting-edge technologies”, said Hinrichs-Rahlwes. Today, 1% of Europe’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) comes from the renewable energy sector. “Stability and predictability via a binding renewables target has allowed our sector to significantly reduce costs both of technologies and of decarbonisation. This is for us the most important lesson learnt from the 2020 package”, announced Hinrichs-Rahlwes.
“The EU should not rely on a one-legged policy based on a single greenhouse gas emissions reduction target. A greenhouse gas emissions reduction target, together with the Emission Trading Scheme, is too volatile to drive investments in renewable energy”, said Hinrichs-Rahlwes. “What is needed to be effective and cost-efficient is policies which investors have confidence in: targets for renewable energy, greenhouse gas emissions reduction and energy efficiency. What’s more, this is what European citizens expect.” According to a 2013 Eurobarometer survey, 70% of EU citizens think that renewables should be an energy priority for the next 30 years².
Read EREC’s response to the 2030 Green Paper consultation.

Press Release on the EREC website.
1. The conference is jointly organised by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Climate Action and Directorate General for Energy. More information is available here: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/events/20130619_climate_energy_2030_en.htm

2. http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_360_en.pdf