BRUSSELS (Reuters) — Swedish activist Greta Thunberg said the new “climate law” put forward by the European Commission on Tuesday to make the EU’s 2050 net zero emissions target legally binding was “surrender”.
Addressing members of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety in Brussels, Thunberg said the European Union had the moral obligation to “lead the way” in tackling climate change
The climate law, which needs the approval of the European Parliament and member states, would commit the 27-nation EU to reducing its net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. It omits a target that was included in a draft of the law — to achieve net “removals” of greenhouse gases after this date.
According to the regulation, 2050 will be an EU-wide goal, which raises the possibility that some member states could reduce their emissions to net zero at a later date if other countries decarbonise early.
