Swedish MEP ‘extremely happy’ with EU vote to cut emissions by 60 percent
The European Parliament voted on Wednesday to cut Europe’s greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent in the next decade, a decision hailed by Jytte Guteland, a lead Swedish lawmaker on the issue.
Guteland tells Swedish Radio News that she was extremely happy with the vote to reduce emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
The EU’s current 2030 goal is a 40 percent emissions cut. The vote by parliament sets up a legally binding target for the EU to reduce CO2 emissions and tasks each EU member state with becoming climate neutral by 2050. It will now be sent to the Council of Ministers.
Though many are pleased with the parliament’s decision, some say it falls short of what’s needed while other say it goes too far.
For more on reactions to the vote and what it might mean for both the environment and the economy, listen to Radio Sweden’s report.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Climate change creating vast new glacial lakes, with risk of ‘gargantuan’ floods, researcher says, The Canadian Press
Greenland: Rise in sea level from ice melt in Greenland and Antarctica match worst-case scenario: study, CBC News
Finland: Miners hunting for metals to battery cars threaten Finland’s Sámi reindeer herders’ homeland, Yle News
Iceland: Arctic Science Ministerial postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19, Eye on the Arctic
Norway: Climate change hits back at Svalbard, coal mine flooded by melting glacier in Norway, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: Record-warm Arctic summer fatal to wild reindeer in Russia, say environmentalists, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: Ten billion kroner for Sweden’s upcoming climate budget, Radio Sweden
United States: Indigenous wildfire knowledge to be key part of new Arctic Council project, Eye on the Arctic
