EU reaches major climate deal ahead of US summit

THE European Union has reached a tentative climate deal intended to make the 27-nation bloc climateneutral 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.

“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,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said early yesterday.

Under the provisional deal, which was 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 with 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%.