Bloomberg: EU agrees on ‘biggest climate law in Europe’

The EU countries have reached an agreement to support the carbon market, approving the central part of the Green Deal strategy aimed at making the European economy climate neutral by the middle of the 21st century. EU deal will force industrialists to cut emissions faster this decade writes Bloomberg.

According to the preliminary agreement, which was announced by representatives of the EU member states and the European Parliament, emissions trading will cover heating, road transport and maritime transport. The reforms are said to be part of a plan to cut emissions by at least 55% below 1990 levels by the end of the decade and achieve zero emissions by 2050.

“This is the biggest climate law ever passed in Europe, and some say the world,” lead negotiator for the European Parliament Peter Lise told reporters.

The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) imposes caps on some 12,000 installations owned by manufacturers and utilities and limits pollution from airlines. It is assumed that emission limits will be reduced every year, and companies with the lowest emissions will be able to sell their unused permits. Thus, the enterprises will have an incentive to quickly come to environmental friendliness, the agency notes. It is expected that by 2030 the level of pollution will be reduced by 62% from the level of 2005.

According to Lise, the negotiators also agreed to approve the system of automatic control over the issuance of permits, proposed by the European Commission in July last year. According to the regulation on the establishment of a threshold for the number of permits, no more than 400 million will be issued in 2023.

According to Bloomberg, the agreement will come into force after its official approval by all countries of the bloc and parliaments.