EU eyes 90pc cut to greenhouse gases by 2040

STRASBOURG, Feb 07 (AFP): The EU on Tuesday urged a 90-percent cut to its greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, even as the bloc's transition to a greener future was clouded by a widespread farmers' revolt.
"Based on the best available science, and a detailed impact assessment, we are recommending that the 2040 target should be a 90 percent emission cut" compared to 1990 levels, said the EU climate commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra.
He called for a "fair transition" that will still allow EU businesses to thrive and ensure "nobody is left behind" as the bloc seeks to become carbon-neutral by 2050.
In a sign of how politically fraught the environmental issue has become, with farmers venting their anger around the bloc, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen earlier Tuesday gave key ground by burying a plan to halve chemical pesticide use by the end of this decade.
The proposal "has become a symbol of polarisation", she acknowledged, with the legislation stalled amid divisions between EU lawmakers and member countries.
Tuesday's announcements came as dozens of farmers protested outside the European Parliament building, angry over shrinking incomes, rising costs and what they say are increasingly onerous green regulations.
The 27-nation European Union is already working towards an interim target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent by 2030.