EU unveils tough climate rules to stop ‘wars over water and food’

European Commission unveils ambitious plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent from 1990 levels by 2030.

The European Union unveiled sweeping new legislation to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent this decade, aiming to turn green goals into concrete action and set an example for the world’s other big economies to follow. The proposals by the EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, range from the de facto phasing out of gasoline and diesel cars by 2035 to new national limits on gases from heating buildings. The aim of the “Fit for 55” legislation, commission officials said, is to wean the continent off fossil fuels and take better care of the environment by policy design – rather than be forced into desperate measures at a future climatic tipping point when it is all but too late.