EU leaders to push for net-zero greenhouse gas emission by 2050

European Union leaders' meeting which is scheduled to take place next week in Brussels will push for an agreement on the blockade of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, as evident from their draft joint statement released on Monday, heralding a bitter fight looming at their gathering. The meeting will take place on December 12 and 13.

The upcoming summit will aim to endorse "the objective of achieving a climate-neutral EU by 2050." The draft which is prepared in advance of the leaders' discussions may still change. Three out of four nations of the Visegrad group- Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic had blocked earlier attempts stating their dependence on highly polluting coal. They claimed that they previously opposed climate neutrality by 2050 because cutting greenhouse emissions will suffocate their economies.

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Just and socially balanced transition

To convince the reluctant camp, the draft summit conclusions refer to "just and socially balanced transition." It also includes the European Investment Bank's announcement that was to unlock 1 trillion euros worth of green investment until 2030, the need to ensure energy security and competitiveness vis-à-vis foreign powers not pursuing such climate goals. The new commission which is led by Germany's Ursula von der Leyen aims to push for climate neutrality by mid-century. The immediate targets envisage cutting the EU's greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent by 2030 from 1990 levels and hope to raise the goal at least 50 per cent. The draft will eventually need unanimous backing of all EU national leaders for there to be an agreement at the summit.

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In the previous year's meeting, the European Commission presented its strategic long-term vision for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate-neutral economy by 2050. They also presented a strategy showing how Europe can lead the way to climate neutrality by investing into realistic technological solutions, empowering citizens, and aligning action in key areas such as industrial policy, finance, or research – while ensuring social fairness for a just transition.