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European Union agrees to go carbon-neutral by 2050 ahead of Biden climate summit
- The bloc also reached a deal to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030
- The agreement still needs to be officially approved by the member states and the legislature
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The European Union reached a tentative climate deal that should make the 27-nation bloc carbon-neutral by 2050, with member states and parliament agreeing on the targets on the eve of a virtual summit that US President Joe Biden will host.
“Our political commitment to becoming the first climate neutral continent by 2050 is now also a legal commitment. The Climate Law sets the EU on a green path for a generation,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen early on Wednesday.
Under the provisional deal reached after officials negotiated through the night, the EU also commits itself on an intermediate target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
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“It was high time for the agreement, as Europe has to show where it stands in view of the positive developments in the USA and China,” said MEP Peter Liese, the negotiator for the EPP Christian Democrat group.
Up to now, the 2030 target had been 40 per cent but under the pressure of increasing evidence of climate change and a more environmentally-conscious electorate that target was pushed up, even if the EU legislature had wanted at 60 per cent target.
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