Major law was agreed upon in the EU on Friday that would accelerate the bloc’s target of reducing its net greenhouse gas emissions. The European Parliament and European Council, which represents EU governments, agreed on legislation that expands the EU’s forests, marshes, and other natural carbon sinks with the goal of raising its target for cutting net carbon emissions.
The legislation is called the Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) Regulation and sets binding targets for removing 310 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent by 2030 through the use of soil, trees, plants, biomass and timber.
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Targets are to be set for all 27 EU members that aim to progressively increase absorptions and reduce emissions so that the EU-wide climate net zero by 2050 objective is reached.
Right now, the law calls for EU countries to ensure they compensate emissions from land use and forestry with at least an equivalent amount of carbon removal. The new law from 2026 will require the removal of CO2 to exceed emissions.
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That could even lead the EU to increase its target for reducing net greenhouse emissions to nearly 57% by 2030 from 1990 levels, compared with the current 55%.
