EU aims to cut emissions by at least 55% by 2030

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday that the European Union was aiming to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030.

Speaking at a virtual Global Climate Summit, von der Leyen insisted that if Europe planned to be the first climate neutral continent in the world, all major economies should also take responsibility.

The European Union on Wednesday reached a tentative climate deal to put the 27-nation bloc on a path to being “climate neutral” by 2050, with member states and parliament agreeing on binding targets for carbon emissions.

Under the provisional deal reached after officials negotiated through the night, the EU will also commit itself to an intermediate target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.

"Carbon must have its price because nature cannot pay the price any longer," von der Leyen said Thursday.

"But fit for 55 is not just about emissions. We will safeguard our nature and enhance biodiversity, going for nature-based solutions wherever possible."

The 2030 target had been 40%, but under the pressure of increasing evidence of climate change and a more environmentally conscious electorate, it was pushed up, although the EU legislature had wanted a higher target of 60%.

President Joe Biden convened leaders of the world's most powerful countries on Thursday to try to spur global efforts against climate change, drawing commitments from Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin to cooperate on cutting emissions despite their own sharp rivalries with the United States.

The Biden administration’s pledge would require by far the most ambitious U.S. climate effort ever, nearly doubling the reductions that the Obama administration had committed to in the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord.

The new urgency comes as scientists say that climate change caused by coal plants, car engines and other fossil fuel use is already worsening droughts, floods, hurricanes, wildfires and other disasters and that humans are running out of time to stave off most catastrophic extremes of global warming.

Image credit: AP