(11 December 2020) – European leaders haggled through the night to clinch a deal on the bloc’s updated climate target for 2030, agreeing an EU-wide goal of cutting net greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030.
The EU’s new 2030 climate objective is meant to bring the EU in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the bloc’s longer-term goal of reaching climate neutrality by mid-century.
“To that end, the European Council endorses a binding EU target of a net domestic reduction of at least 55% in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990,” says the final summit communiqué published today.
Poland, backed by some other coal-dependent central European countries fought through the night to obtain assurances that their economies will not suffer disproportionate costs from the transition to a net-zero economy.
The EU’s updated climate goal will now be written down into a draft European Climate Law and transmitted to the United Nations as the bloc’s formal commitment under the Paris Agreement. (EurActiv)