EU’s grand plans to curb climate change rely on local buy-ins

Europe Letter: More than 50 green laws and reforms on EU schedule in next 18 months

Naomi O’Leary Europe Correspondent

Those warning of the imminence of catastrophic climate change have won the argument. Green has become mainstream. Photograph: iStock

Those warning of the imminence of catastrophic climate change have won the argument. Green has become mainstream. Photograph: iStock

The European Union has committed to cut its carbon admissions by at least 55 per cent over the next nine years, compared to 1990 levels. It’s intended as a step on the way to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050, by which point the bloc aims to emit no more of the greenhouse gas than it can absorb.

It’s all part of the so-called European Green Deal: an umbrella term for an array of targets, laws, funding and incentives for climate-friendly innovation and industries that its proponents hope will amount to a wholesale transformation of the economies of the 27 member states, all while improving quality of life and maintaining prosperity.

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