All EU Member States will likely have to significantly lower their greenhouse gas emissions to be climate neutral by 2050 following a parliamentary vote on the European Union’s new Climate Law.
The European Parliament released the outcome of the vote on Thursday, which showed that 392 Members of the EP voted in favour of the proposal, with 161 voting against, and 142 abstaining their vote.
In order to reach this goal for each individual Member State, greenhouse gas emissions will need to be strongly reduced by 2030 and 2040.
The current emissions goal for 2030 is a 40% reduction when compared to 1990. Following the new proposal, emissions will need to be reduced to 55 to 60% in order to reach the 2050 goal.
Further steps on how to achieve these reductions have not yet been announced.
“The adoption of the report sends a clear message to the Commission and the Council,” Parliament rapporteur Jytte Guteland stated following the vote.
The European Commission and the European Council will have to approve the proposal before it will become legally binding. Negotiations on the contents of the Climate Law are still ongoing.
Once the European Council approves the proposal, the European Parliament will start negotiations with each Member State.
In 2019, the European Council endorsed the EU’s ambitions of becoming climate neutral by 2050.
To enforce this goal, the European Commission proposed an EU Climate Law in March 2020.
Amée Zoutberg
The Brussels Times
