EU Agrees to Cut Greenhouse Emissions

JUN 29 2022·Updated SEP 20 2022

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Image credit: Reuters

The Facts

On Wed., after 16 hours of negotiations, EU member states reached an agreement on proposed laws to combat climate change and its impacts. The agreements will be further refined in later negotiations with the EU Parliament before becoming official.
Reuters
The environmental ministers of the 27 member states agreed on five laws that will eliminate emissions from new fossil fuel burning cars by 2035 and will provide €59B to a fund to protect disadvantaged and impoverished residents from CO2 costs. They also agreed to cut greenhouse emissions by 55% by 2030, revising a 1990 previous agreement of 40%.
Al Jazeera
Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland opposed the final agreement on the grounds that a larger fund is needed to assist low-income communities from the costs associated with these policies, including an increase in utility bills.
guardian
The agreement hopes to expand renewable energy use to promote savings and decrease reliance on Russian oil.
EuroNews
The overall goal of the legislative package is to set the EU on a path to being climate-neutral by 2050 and inspire the US and China to follow suit.
KWKT
In 2021, the UK, no longer a member of the EU, committed to ending the sale of new fossil fuel-burning vehicles by 2030. The sale of some hybrids will end by 2035.
CNN

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The Spin

Establishment-critical narrative

These agreements are just words with no real action. The 2030 target is arbitrary and will not be final until negotiations have concluded with the European Parliament later this year - and often energy efficiency is the first goal to be tossed. This sets a target but nothing is legally binding. European nations must step up, otherwise, this announcement is meaningless.

Euractiv

Pro-establishment narrative

The EU is strongly committed to combating the effects of climate change, as shown by its support for UN programs and vigorous backing of the Paris Agreement. The member states' collaboration was successful in cutting emissions by 31% in 2020. This is a bold track record, and these proposed laws show that the EU is serious about leading the world in climate policy.