The European Union has signed a major climate deal with ambitious new targets to curb climate change, pledging to make them legally binding.
Under the new law, an agreement between member states and the European Parliament, the bloc will cut carbon emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030, compared to 1990 levels, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
The pact paves the way for tougher rules that will affect industries ranging from transport to energy production. It will include reinforcing carbon pricing mechanisms, fostering energy savings, ramping up the production of renewable energy, boosting sustainable transport, and curbing imports of products associated with deforestation.
“[The] package will arguably be the most comprehensive legislative framework in the world addressing climate,” said Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal. “We need to gather all possible forces in the fight against climate change, abroad and at home.”
As reported by Bloomberg, the European Commission will also introduce a labeling system for green investments that could divert hundreds of billions in funds to specific industries and companies, in an effort to strategically cut emissions where their impact is most significant.
