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Updated April 21st, 2021 at 17:13 IST

EU reaches deal to make bloc carbon neutral by 2050

The European Union reached a tentative climate deal that is intended to make the 27-nation bloc carbon neutral by 2050, with member states and parliament agreeing on new carbon emissions targets on the eve of a virtual summit hosted by US President Joe Biden.

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The European Union reached a tentative climate deal that is intended to make the 27-nation bloc carbon neutral by 2050, with member states and parliament agreeing on new carbon emissions targets on the eve of a virtual summit hosted by US President Joe Biden.

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.

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%.

Lawmakers from The Greens specifically complained that too many accounting tricks had been used to reach the level of 55% and that in reality the reduction would equate to a 52.8% reduction of direct emissions.

Its environmental expert, MEP Michael Bloss said EU member nations and parliament had rushed through a weak climate law for the sake of a photo-op with President Joe Biden.

The chair of the negotiations, Liberal MEP Pascal Canfin of the Renew Europe group, said finding a middle way was necessary. He said the compromise reached is ambitious and they would do 2.5 times more in nine years than they had done in the last 10 years in Europe.

The United States, the world's second-biggest polluter after China, is preparing to announce its new target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Under Biden, the United States has returned to the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and all global partners will be meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, to push for strong targets.

Both Washington and Brussels are aiming to go "carbon neutral" by midcentury, a goal scientists say needs to be achieved to keep average global temperatures from rising above 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) by the year 2100.

The Paris accord's more ambitious target of capping global warming at 1.5 C (2.7 F) by the end of the century compared with pre-industrial times would likely require even more drastic worldwide cuts in emissions.

Wednesday's EU deal still needs to be officially approved by the member states and the European Parliament, but that should be little more than a rubber stamp.

 

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Published April 21st, 2021 at 17:13 IST

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