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European Green Deal

Making the EU climate neutral is the defining challenge over the next decades. The aim of the European Green Deal is to transform the EU into a modern society with a resource-efficient, sustainable and competitive economy where there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases in 2050 and where economic growth is decoupled from resource use.

Overview

Overview

In December 2019, the European Commission presented the "European Green Deal'' to meet the challenges of climate change. The Commission's strategic concept contains specific targets and a cross-sectoral action plan for the future direction of a sustainable, competitive European economy. The draft legislation and strategies that have been adopted since then already indicate that the Green Deal will fundamentally change the European economy. The overall goal of the Green Deal is to gradually reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), to reach climate neutrality by 2050.

To reaffirm its commitment, at the End of June 2021, as part of the implementation of the Green Deal, the EU Parliament and Council adopted the European Climate Law. The European Climate Law commits the EU to achieving climate neutrality by 2050 and to reducing its net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030 compared with 1990. The European Commission's "Fit for 55"-package presented on July 14, 2021 sets out the instruments the EU will use to achieve the new climate target for 2030. In twelve legislative proposals, the EU determines how our economy and society is fundamentally transformed for a fair, green and prosperous future.

Climate neutrality requires, on the one hand, the reduction of all greenhouse gases currently emitted and, on the other hand, the compensation of unavoidable emissions through natural storage, e.g. in forests.

To achieve the goal of climate neutrality, extensive investments are required, which the European Commission has specified in the ''Investment Plan for a Sustainable Europe''. The plan aims to generate investments of at least 1 trillion euros over the next ten years. This requires interaction between the EU budget, member states and private actors.

In order to increase the incentives for investment, the Commission plans to privilege investments under financial and tax law.

A uniform framework for the classification of environmentally sustainable activities is also to be created, and the pursuit of long-term ecological goals is to be more strongly integrated into the corporate governance framework of companies.


Publications

News

No time to waste III - Parliament and Council reached provisional agreement on PPWR

Recently, the Parliament and the Council, under the leadership of the Belgian Council Presidency, have been able to reach a provisional agreement on a final text for a new Packaging and...

News

SFDR targeted consultation – a wish list for Luxembourg funds

For Luxembourg funds complying with Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 on sustainability-related disclosures in the financial services sector (the SFDR), the targeted consultation and public...

News

ESG news: Italy launches a public consultation on draft decree implementing the CSRD

The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) opened a public consultation to receive feedback on the draft decree implementing Directive (EU) 2022/2464 as regards corporate...

News

ESG news: Italy launches a public consultation on draft decree implementing the CSRD

The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) opened a public consultation to receive feedback on the draft decree implementing Directive (EU) 2022/2464 as regards corporate...

News

2024: The year of helping the environment – one product at a time

The legislators, regulators and consumers’ focus on products and their impact on the environment is nothing new. What is new however is the variety of products now being considered as ...

Insights and Analysis

CBAM and UK CBAM: EU moves ahead, UK follows with Carbon Import Tariff Regime

2024 promises the acceleration of trade-related carbon pricing measures in Europe. Implementation of the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is ongoing, with the first...

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