The European Union’s climate chief called for the bloc to take the lead and aim for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in its climate strategy published on Wednesday, ahead of key U. N. talks on curbing global warming.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union’s climate chief called for the bloc to take the lead and aim for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in its climate strategy published on Wednesday, ahead of key U. N. talks on curbing global warming.
As President Donald Trump pulls the United States out of the Paris climate accord, European Commission climate chief Miguel Arias Canete said the bloc had to lead by example at next week’s climate talks in Poland.
The EU executive published its strategy on Wednesday, setting out eight pathways to reducing emissions – two of which chart a course for Europe to becoming climate neutral by absorbing as much greenhouse gas as it emits.
“It’s worth becoming the first major economy to fully decarbonise, to fully reach net zero emissions,” Canete told Reuters on Tuesday. “It will require lots of effort, but it is doable.”
Under a package of climate legislation adopted since the 2015 Paris Agreement on containing global warming, the EU is on track to overshoot its pledge to reduce emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2030.
