European Union agrees to cut emissions by 40% by 2030

Think Progress - European Union [has struck] an initial deal to legally require its member countries to cut their [greenhouse gas] emissions 40 percent below their 1990 levels by 2030. It’s the first substantive offer from any member of the international community ahead of the United Nations climate talks that will be held in Paris in 2015.

The agreement came on the second day of a two-day meeting of the European Council, following up a long night of haggling over how to share the burden of the reductions. The plan is for the 40 percent target to eventually be divvied up into individual and legally binding requirements for each E.U. member country, based on how much effort their economy can shoulder. Two other targets for 2030 were also agreed upon: to increase energy efficiency 27 percent and to get 27 percent of the E.U.’s power from renewable sources by that time. The efficiency target could also be updated to 30 percent, pending a review in 2020.