EU member states strike late-night deal on climate laws

euronews.com:

European Union member states reached a deal in the early hours of the morning on Wednesday on a series of measures they hope should put the bloc on track to become carbon neutral by 2050.

It took environment ministers gathered in Luxembourg about 17 hours to reach compromises on five sensitive laws that form part of the bloc's Fit for 55 package that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030​ compared to 1990s levels.

The measures they agreed on were regarding the EU emissions trading system, emissions and removals from land use, land-use change, and forestry, the creation of a social climate fund (SCF) and new CO2 emission performance standards for cars and vans.

Among the most eye-catching measures are the addition of maritime shipping in the EU emissions trading system (ETS), the creation of a new, separate emissions trading system for the buildings and road transport sectors, the allocated €59 billion for the SCF, the overall objective to remove 310 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent by improving land and forestry use, and the end of the sale of combustion-engine cars by 2035.

Agnès Pannier-Runacher, French minister for the energy transition, who led the negotiations, described the proposals as "a major step forward in the fight against global warming."

"Decarbonising our energy systems through a massive deployment of renewable energies and significant efforts in energy savings is essential to achieve our climate objectives. It will also help us to reduce our dependence on Russia for energy, in the context of the war in Ukraine," she added in a statement.

Frans Timmermans, the Commission's Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, told reporters that "it is a very good day for the European