The European Commission’s climate chief Wopke Hoekstra described the deal on Wednesday as “absolutely science-based.”
Asked whether he agrees, Edenhofer said: “The 90 percent are certainly science-based, but the 5 percentage points [of credits] depend on the circumstances … 85 percent is certainly below the limit. I would say it is a political compromise and should be seen as such.”
Edenhofer also warned against scapegoating climate efforts for the EU’s economic woes.
“The European economy certainly has a competitiveness problem,” particularly in high-polluting industries and car manufacturers, he acknowledged. “But climate policy is very often blamed for a lack of industrial policy.”
He was particularly critical of a recent campaign by parts of the German chemical industry to abolish the EU’s carbon market, the heart of its climate legislation.
“I find that utterly ridiculous,” he said.
The industry’s concerns about the carbon market’s current trajectory, which requires companies to hit net-zero before 2040, are valid, he added, which is why he supports limited reforms. But demands to abolish the EU’s CO2 price are “unhelpful” in his view.
“Fundamentally, messages that climate policy is a nice luxury and now it’s time to get back to the important things are absurd,” he added. “It’s grotesque. Climate impacts are real. And this is not some trivial matter — it’s about securing long-term prosperity.”