There is an agreement between the EU institutions on the climate law. The agreement provides for climate neutrality by 2050 and a cut of emissions by 2030 by at least 55% compared to 1990 levels. The result of the negotiations, which lasted all night, allows the EU to formalize its strengthened commitment in the context of the Paris Agreement, on the eve of the summit of world leaders on climate convened by Joe Biden for April 22 and 23, which will also be attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The emission reduction targets remain those proposed by the European Commission in 2020 and endorsed by EU leaders last December. But on the 2030 target, as requested by the European Parliament, the negotiators introduced a cap (225 million tons) on the contribution of CO2 removals from forests and technologies. A detail that, according to the president of the environment commission of the European Parliament, Pascal Canfin, translates into “an effective reduction of 57%”. The rest will have to be all reduction effort.
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Climate neutrality by 2050, as established by EU leaders, remains instead a collective objective of the Union and not for each single State, as the European Parliament wanted. Other elements of the agreement include the establishment of an independent European scientific advisory committee on climate change and an intermediate climate goal to be achieved by 2040. The agreement will now have to be definitively approved by the Council (member countries) and the plenary of the European Parliament. .
“I am delighted that we have reached an agreement on this central element of the European Green Deal. Our political commitment to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 is now also a legal commitment. Climate law puts the EU on a green path for a generation. It is our binding commitment to our children and grandchildren, ”said the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, with satisfaction.