In a joint declaration, the chief executives Vattenfall, Fortum and Statkraft have urged Brussels to increase EU climate ambition to match the Paris Agreement.
The leaders of the three Nordic energy companies also want the EU to enshrine the 2050 climate neutrality target in European Climate Law.
On 7 November the CEOs appeared at a joint Nordic Coalition event in the European Parliament, where the Vattenfall chief executive Magnus Hall said: “Vattenfall is committed to power fossil-free living within one generation.
“With the start of a new European political cycle, I believe Europe has a unique opportunity to take decisive political action towards becoming a climate-neutral economy by 2050, powered by clean electricity. We therefore strongly support the alignment of the EU’s 2030 and 2050 climate targets with the Paris Agreement in order to give a strong signal, encouraging the decarbonisation of the EU economy.”
The three Nordic utilities agree that carbon pricing is key for “cost-efficient” emissions abatement and climate financing.
They recommend integrating the cost of carbon dioxide emissions in the price of carbon-intensive products and activities wider in the economy. Extending the scope of the EU emissions trading system to sectors such as heating and cooling and transport needs to be further evaluated, Vattenfall, Fortum and Statkraft advise.
The CEOs said carbon dioxide removal technologies should be “duly recognised” in the legislation and be supported to achieve market maturity.
Fortum, Vattenfall and Statkraft see electrification as the most “efficient, flexible and sustainable way” to decarbonise the economy, in particular industry, transport, heating and cooling.
“This will be enabled through stronger interconnectors between regions, competitive low-carbon power supply and cross sectoral flexibility,” they said.
The Nordic utilities highlight that “mastering the financial and social challenge” of the energy transition is “crucial” for success.
“In order to succeed, costs and benefits have to be fairly distributed and no member state, consumer or citizen should be left behind,” they said.