The EU Council and Parliament negotiators reached a provisional political agreement Wednesday raising the bar for greenhouse gas emissions targets by 2050. This came after the adoption of a general approach in December, following which the Council and Parliament launched a series of meetings to secure an agreement on the final text this week.

The agreement entrenches into community law the new objective of a climate-neutral EU by or before 2050, with a net greenhouse gas reduction aim of at least 55 percent by 2030 compared to 1990.

Negotiators agreed that priority should be given to emissions reductions as opposed to removals. They further agreed that the EU shall aim to achieve a higher volume of carbon net sink by 2030.

A new Advisory Board on Climate change, which will comprise 15 senior scientific experts of different nationalities, shall be tasked with providing advice and reports on EU measures, climate targets and indicative greenhouse gas budgets, whilst ensuring that member states adhere to European climate laws and their Paris Agreement commitments. The budget will be defined by the anticipated total volume of greenhouse gas emissions in 2030-2050. According to the provisional agreement, the EU should aspire to achieve negative emissions post-2050.

Furthermore, the Commission is to set an intermediate climate target for 2040 at least six months following the first global stocktake under section 14 of the Paris Agreement.

Portuguese Minister of Environment and Climate Action João Pedro Matos Fernandes has referred to this agreement as “the law of laws” and expressed the EU’s strong commitment to achieving climate-neutral status by 2050. He is hopeful that this may set an example for the rest of the world, given the Leader’s Climate Summit on Thursday. It is also set to pave the way for the Commission’s proposal of its “fit-for-55” climate package.