BRUSSELS: In a bid to enshrine the EU’s commitment to reaching climate neutrality by 2050, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union (EU) reached a provisional agreement on the first-ever EU climate law. The deal came on the eve of a US-initiated virtual summit on climate change scheduled for Thursday and Friday, as per reports.

According to a statement by Portuguese Minister of Environment Joao Pedro Matos Fernandes, who chaired the negotiations in the last hours, "this agreement sends a strong message to the world" ahead of the US-initiated climate summit, and "paves the way for the Commission to move forward, in June, with the climate package proposal".

The  European Union climate law increases the bloc's 2030 net greenhouse gas emissions reduction target from 40 percent to at least 55 percent. The European Parliament had wanted to make the cut more ambitious, proposing to cut emissions by 60 percent in the next decade.

The climate law is a key milestone for the European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen, delivering on one of the commitments she announced in her political guidelines in July 2019, said a Commission press release on Wednesday.

Welcoming the deal, von der Leyen said: "Our political commitment to becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 is now also a legal commitment. The Climate Law sets the EU on a green path for a generation. It is our binding pledge to our children and grandchildren."

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