Green Parties Push European Countries to go Carbon Neutral

The rise of green parties in Europe has had a hugely positive effect on the fight against climate change. Countries such as Germany, Austria, and others have seen green parties become part of the government and push their agenda to fight global warming and increase the share of renewable energy. Austria recently saw the election of a new government led by OVP in collaboration with the Green Party. As part of the coalition agreement between the parties, the government has agreed to a plan to set up rooftop solar panels on 1 million homes and have the country’s entire power generation come from renewable energy sources.

Note the new European Commission targets that the entire continent become carbon neutral by 2050. Unfortunately, this pledge could not be committed during the recent COP summit in Spain as Poland held out. However, most European countries individually are committed to achieving this target. You might also like Portugal sees a Low of 1.6 cents/ unit in a Gigawatt Solar Tender Marking Another Record

Austria is now targeting to become completely carbon neutral by 2040 which is 10 years ahead of the 2050 target set up by Europe. While the 1 million roofs are still a 10x improvement over the existing target of 100,000 rooftops, it will still not be able to get to the 100% RE target by 2030. The government also needs to put in stronger policy and regulatory framework in place that can increase the current 2.5% RE generation to 100% RE generation. Besides renewable energy, Austria also needs to promote energy efficiency and electric mobility which will help the country meet its carbon neutrality targets.

Also, read Europe sees a Solar Renaissance as Grid Parity Drives a Doubling of Growth