Bloomberg News:
"Europe plans economic revolution with climate law"
"European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled a draft law on Wednesday that would commit the region to become the first climate-neutral continent by the middle of the century. The legal proposal is the cornerstone of the bloc’s Green Deal, a far-reaching strategy that foresees a radical overhaul of the European economy over the next three decades."
Elements of the draft law:
EU-wide emissions and removals of greenhouse gases must be balanced by 2050 at the latest
Member states must take necessary steps to enable collective achievement of the goal by the EU
Commission will review the current 2030 emission-reduction goal by September, exploring options for a new goal of 50%-55%
By June 2021, commission will assess how to amend various rules on emissions, including a law on the bloc’s carbon market
By September 2023, the commission will every five years assess the progress made by member states following global stock-takes under the Paris Agreement to protect the climate
Commission may propose new climate targets every five years following the assessments; trajectory to get to climate neutrality will start with the goal for 2030
Earlier this year, the commission proposed a 1 trillion-euro plan designed to be the financing pillar of the Green Deal. It envisions earmarking around 500 billion euros from the EU budget for the clean shift over the next decade, while separately leveraging 280 billion euros of private and public investment and establishing a funding mechanism with another 143 billion euros, also from public and private sources, to help regions facing the most costly clean-ups.
To ensure the Green Deal materializes to be Europe’s new growth strategy, new markets must be developed, with both public and private finance flowing to small and large companies alike to help them deploy first new technologies, according to Marco Mensink, director general of the chemical industry association Cefic.