27 October 2010: The European Commission has launched a public consultation aimed at gathering views from stakeholders and the public on decarbonizing the European economy by 2050.

The online consultation is open from 27 October to 8 December 2010 to all European citizens, organized stakeholders, industries, institutions, NGOs and public authorities from the EU member States. It is expected to feed into a roadmap for a low-carbon economy by 2050, which will set out a strategy for realizing the EU’s objective of reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 80-95% against 1990 levels by 2050, and contain an analysis of milestones on the pathway to 2050, including the necessary scenarios of the ambition level for 2030. The EU’s future action towards decarbonization is expected to address key areas such as electricity and gas markets, energy sources, transport, consumer behavior and closer international cooperation. The roadmap is due to be published in the first half of 2011. [The Consultation Website]