The European Partnership for Energy and the Environment (EPEE), the voice of the cooling and heat pump industry in Europe, welcomes the initiative to establish a legally binding 2050 climate-neutrality objective. To ensure the success of the European Climate Law, the Commission and EU Member States should focus on the following priorities:
- Implement & enforce the Clean Energy Package, whilst strengthening market surveillance and consolidating national heating & cooling plans as part of Member State NECPs and renovation strategies.
- Increase climate targets in a coherent manner, ensuring that targets for GHG emission reduction, energy efficiency and renewable energy are all binding and mutually supportive.
- Trigger sustainable investments by establishing a framework that encourages the optimum balance of investment for efficiency improvements in the demand side and power infrastructure in the supply side.
The EU and its Member States should use this opportunity to create a legislative environment that promotes an integrated heating & cooling approach, maximizing the benefits of cooling whilst creating the smallest footprint in terms of GHG emissions and electrical peak demand. EPEE’s feedback on the Commission roadmap for a European Climate Law elaborates further on these points.
To promote this vision, EPEE will launch a broader #CountOnCooling campaign. The EPEE White Paper “Count on Cooling: A five-step approach to deliver sustainable cooling” examines the crucial role of cooling in the 21st century.