The European Union has announced a draft of climate change legislation aimed at pushing it towards its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.
A dozen draft proposals, which still need to be approved by the bloc’s 27 member states and the EU parliament, were announced on Wednesday.
They include plans to tax jet fuel and effectively ban the sale of petrol and diesel powered cars within 20 years.
The proposals, however, are likely to face months of negotiations.
“We’re going to ask a lot of our citizens,” EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans said.
“We’re also going to ask a lot of our industries, but we do it for good cause. We do it to give humanity a fighting chance” He added.
The plans triggered serious infighting at the European Commission, the bloc’s administrative arm, as the final tweaks were being made, sources told the AFP news agency.
Opposition is also expected from some industry leaders, such as airlines and vehicle manufacturers, as well as from eastern member states that rely heavily on coal.
One EU diplomat told Reuters that the success of the package would rest on its ability to be realistic and socially fair, while also not destabilising the economy.
“The aim is to put the economy on a new level, not to stop it,” they said.
BBC