EU Climate Law Makes Climate Goals Legally Binding

EU Climate Law Makes Climate Goals Legally Binding

This week, European Union policymakers agreed to enshrine the bloc’s short- and long-term climate commitments. The European Climate Law takes the EU’s goals of reducing net emissions by 55% by 2030 and hitting climate neutrality by 2050 and makes them “legally binding and irreversible,” as German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze put it in Politico EU.  

Why This Matters: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made clear at the Global Climate Summit yesterday that Europe wants to be “the first climate-neutral continent in the world,” and said that they had written it “into stone… to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050.” 

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Annual Energy Use Report Projects Global Increase In Demand For Coal

Annual Energy Use Report Projects Global Increase In Demand For Coal

The International Energy Agency’s annual report on global energy use is out, with a look at energy sources, demand, and emissions as we head into the second year of the pandemic. The outlook is concerning: the IEA projects that “coal is set to roar back,” as the New York Times headline put it, with demand for the dirty fuel expected to rise 4.5%. 

Why This Matters: It’s Earth Day and this trend should be concerning to all the government and private sector leaders assembling virtually at the Global Climate Summit.

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