EU clinches deal on climate law, tougher 2030 emissions goal

(file photo) The Eiffel Tower is surrounded by a small-particle haze which hangs above the skyline in Paris

The European Union clinched a deal in the early hours of Wednesday on a landmark law to make its climate-change goals legally binding, including a target to slash its net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% this decade. The deal arrives just in time for a summit of world leaders hosted by the US government on Thursday and Friday, where the EU and other global powers will promote their pledges to protect the planet. The European climate law sets the framework that will guide EU climate-related regulations in the coming decades, steering it towards reaching zero net emissions by 2050 - a pathway which, if adopted globally, would limit global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels and avoid the worst impacts of climate change. More than a year after the European Commission proposed the bill, negotiators representing the European Parliament and the 27 EU governments finally finished its contents on Wednesday, after all-night talks.