On October 15, European Union (EU) leaders agreed that they should move to increase their climate emissions reduction goal but have yet to commit to a specific target. Currently, the EU has pledged to achieve full carbon neutrality by 2050, with an interim goal of cutting emissions by 40% (compared to 1990 levels) by 2030.

On August 5, the European Commission declared its intention to introduce new legislation to quell the use of fossil fuels in the aviation sector, initiating a public consultation on the matter. The creation of these measures comes as part of the European Green Deal, which has committed the European Union (EU) to becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

On June 30, the U.N. International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) agreed to shift the baseline year for CORSIA, a landmark carbon emissions offsetting scheme for airlines, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on the industry. CORSIA, set to begin in 2021, requires airlines to buy credits to offset carbon emissions from international flights that exceed the baseline of average emissions in 2019-2020. The airline industry argued that using 2020 in the benchmark calculation would artificially lower the offset ceiling due to huge declines in flights this year.

European leaders have called for green investments in their coronavirus recovery plans, citing the need for clean air and a circular economy to rebuild resilience. On April 15, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reaffirmed strong support for the European Green Deal, which aims for zero carbon emissions in the European Union (EU) bloc by 2050.

European Union leaders will push for a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 at an upcoming summit December 12-13, according to a draft statement released December 2. Previous efforts to endorse climate neutrality have been blocked by Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, who rely heavily on coal (Reuters). 

At a European Union (EU) summit on June 20, efforts led by France and Germany for the 28-member EU to agree to a 2050 net-zero carbon emissions target was blocked by three central European countries. The Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland refused to sign on to the agreement, which is projected to require the bloc to invest an additional 175 billion to 290 billion euros per year in clean energy technology. The summit was the last chance to agree to the target before global climate talks in September.

On April 5, the European Commission charged BMW, Daimler, and Volkswagen with colluding to limit the introduction of clean emissions technology. The Commission alleges that the carmakers colluded between 2006 and 2014 to limit, delay, or avoid the introduction of selective catalytic reduction systems to reduce harmful nitrogen oxides emissions from diesel passenger cars. The carmakers have 10 weeks to respond and could face fines of up to 10% of their global annual turnover.

On March 7, the European Court of Justice's General Court ruled that the European Food Safety Agency must disclose details of studies on the toxicity and carcinogenic properties of glyphosate. Concerns about the weedkiller's safety were highlighted in 2015 when an agency of the World Health Organization concluded that it probably causes cancer. The court found that it was in the public's interest to access the information not only for knowing what is or could be released into the environment, but also for understanding the impact of those emissions.

On December 13, a European Union (EU) court partly overturned the European Commission's 2016 regulatory amendment that raised the limits on nitrogen oxide emissions from cars and vans, in a complaint brought by city authorities from Paris, Brussels, and Madrid. The General Court determined that the part of the amendment that increased nitrogen oxide limits exceeded the Commission's authority and broke EU human rights and other laws. The court gave the Commission one year to revise the amendment to avoid legal uncertainty over decisions already made by consumers and automakers.

On November 28, the European Union's (EU's) executive branch proposed to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. The proposal is far more ambitious than the national targets set by many of the EU's 28 member nations and is likely to be met with resistance. To achieve net-zero emissions, any greenhouse gases that are emitted would need to be soaked up by forest growth or by new technologies that remove carbon from the atmosphere. For the full story, see https://www.apnews.com/95d0381308164e7b867dd0e0d869bf15.