The EU has adopted ambitious new targets to curb climate change, with a pledge to make them legally binding.

Under a new law agreed between member states and the EU Parliament, the bloc will cut carbon emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared with 1990 levels.

The EU parliament had pushed for a higher target of a 60% reduction.

"Our political commitment to becoming the first climate neutral continent by 2050 is now also a legal one," said EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.

"The Climate Law sets the EU on a green path for a generation."

The deal comes ahead of a virtual summit of world leaders later this week, where the US is expected to announce its own climate targets for 2030.

US President Joe Biden, who will lead the meeting, rejoined the Paris climate agreement in his first day in office and has previously committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050.

The UK, meanwhile, announced radical plans to cut carbon emissions by 78% by 2035 earlier this week, although environmentalists warn that the government has consistently failed to achieve previous targets set by its independent Climate Change Committee (CCC).

Source : www.BBC.com