The EU agrees on the law that sets the goal of achieving climate neutrality in 2050

The institutions of the European Union have reached in the early hours of This Wednesday an agreement on the first climate law of the bloc, which sets the goal of achieving climate neutrality by mid-century and establishes the intermediate goal of having reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030.

Negotiators from the European Parliament, the Member States and the European Commission have closed the pact at 5.00 a.m. and now the rules must be formally adopted by the first two institutions, which share legislative power.

EU climate law is the core of the European Green Deal and the fundamental pillar of the bloc’s fight against climate change. Specifically, it establishes the objective of achieving climate neutrality by 2050: to reduce carbon dioxide (_CO2) emissions as much as possible and to ensure that the rest are absorbed, for example, by the action of forests.

“We are very happy with the interim agreement reached today. The European climate law is ‘the law of laws’ that establishes the framework for all EU climate legislation for the next 30 years, “said in a statement the Minister of Environment and Climate Action of Portugal, a country that holds this semester the rotating presidency of the EU, Joao Pedro Matos.

The negotiator of the European Parliament, the Swedish Social Democrat Jytte Guteland, has also celebrated the agreement, although she has acknowledged that she would have liked to “go further”. “But this is a good agreement, based on science and that will make a big difference for the climate,” he emphasized.

On the path to achieving neutrality, the law sets an intermediate target by the end of this decade that will be 55%. This decrease in emissions will be “net”, an aspect that raises the criticism of environmental organizations, which denounce that this means that the real effort will be less.

In addition, the agreement contemplates that the European Commission will propose, if it deems it appropriate, a new intermediate target for 2040 no later than six months after the first global assessment of the progress achieved in the framework of the Paris Agreement is made.

Also, from the trajectory of reducing emissions, the climate law underlines the need to strengthen the capacity of carbon sinks through an update of the regulations on land use and forestry, which the Community Executive wants to propose in June of this year.

Other aspects of European climate law are the commitment to have negative greenhouse gas emissions after 2050, the creation of an independent scientific advisory board on climate change, ‘stronger’ provisions on adaptation to climate change and the pursuit of greater coherence of EU policies with the aim of climate neutrality.

“Climate law will shape the EU’s green recovery and ensure a socially just ecological transition,” said Frans Timmermans, The European Commission’s Vice-President for the Green Deal, adding that the agreement “also reinforces the EU’s global position as a leader in the fight against the climate crisis.”

Source: ABC