Europe to Review 2030 Emissions-Reduction Goal by September

(Bloomberg) -- The European Union's executive plans to review the region's 2030 emissions-reduction target by September and may propose toughening it in an effort to remain at the forefront of fighting climate change.

The European Commission's pledge to review the current target of at least 40% below 1990 levels is in a draft law to be unveiled Wednesday. It will cement a new goal of climate-neutrality by 2050, a top priority for Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. As part of her strategy to make Europe the world's first continent to eliminate emissions, she also pledged to consider increasing the 2030 target to as much as 55%.

“Where the commission considers that it is necessary to amend that target, it shall make proposals” to the European Parliament and member states in the EU Council, according to a draft document reviewed by Bloomberg.

Read More: EU Executive Is Said to Seek More Control Over Climate Targets

The European Commission has a policy of not commenting on draft legislation.

The Green Deal and its objectives will affect everything from agriculture to trade and energy production. By the end of June next year, the commission plans to assess how to amend the existing legislation on emissions to reach the new goals, according to the draft law. It will include revising rules governing the EU Emissions Trading System, the world's biggest carbon market.

With Europe hosting the next round of UN climate talks in November in Glasgow, a potential proposal to toughen the 2030 climate goal would keep the EU at the vanguard of combating global warming. It would also address calls by the European Parliament, which has urged a 55% target to be part of the climate law before the UN meeting, known as COP 26.

By September 2023 and “every five years thereafter,” the proposal calls for reviewing progress of member states, possibly reviewing the trajectory to reach the 2050 goal. The five-year period is in sync with the provisions of the global Paris Agreement to cut emissions.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ewa Krukowska in Brussels at ekrukowska@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net, Joe Ryan, Will Wade

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