EU leaders agree to cut carbon emissions at least 55% by 2030

Good News Notes: 

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

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