“European Union leaders have agreed to cut net carbon emissions at least 55% from 1990 levels by 2030, European Council President Charles Michel announced on Friday.
The big picture: The agreement eased concerns among Eastern European countries, including Poland, that rely heavily on coal, while putting the EU on a path toward its goal to be climate-neutral by 2050.
- Many details of the agreement, which came after an all-night negotiating session, still need to be worked out by the European Commission.
- But leaders ‘decided the target has to be reached by the bloc collectively — effectively giving coal-depended countries more time to transition their energy consumption,’ theNew York Times noted.
What they’re saying saying: ‘Europe is the leader in the fight against climate change,’ Michel tweeted in announcing the agreement.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted that the agreement ‘puts us on a clear path towards climate neutrality in 2050.’
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during a news conference on Friday that the decision was ‘worth losing a night’s sleep,’ per NYT. ‘I don’t want to imagine what would have happened if we hadn’t been able to achieve such a result.’
- Michal Kurtyka, Poland’s minister of climate and environment, said the deal ‘on the one hand allows us to realize the E.U. target, and on the other creates conditions for a just transition of the Polish economy and the energy sector,’ the NYT reported.
Yes, but: Many environmental and climate groups and activists said Friday’s agreement falls shorts.”
View the whole story here: https://www.axios.com/eu-carbon-emissions-target-cut-2030-climate-063fa943-1af8-471f-a798-590bba10c7c4.html