Summary/Abstract
The proposal aims to complement the existing policy framework by setting the long-term direction of travel and enshrining the 2050 climate-neutrality objective in EU law, enhancing adaptation efforts, establishing a process to set out and review a trajectory until 2050, regular assessment and a process in case of insufficient progress or inconsistencies. It also tasks the Commission to review existing policies and Union legislation in view of their consistency with the climate-neutrality objective as well as with the trajectory identified. Consistency with Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action has been ensured by including consequential amendments to that Regulation.
Article 2 sets the EU 2050 climate-neutrality objectives, recognizing that removals of greenhouse gases will be needed to compensate for remaining greenhouse gas from sectors where decarbonization is the most challenging. The natural sink of forests, soils, agricultural lands and wetlands should be maintained and further increased and carbon removal technologies, such as carbon capture and storage and carbon capture and utilization, should be made cost-effective and deployed.