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Finland Sets Deal on Making EU Carbon Neutral as Key Target

Finland Sets Deal on Making EU Carbon Neutral as Key Target

(Bloomberg) -- Finland will target an agreement to make the European Union commit to becoming carbon neutral by 2050 during its stint heading the bloc over the next six months.

The Nordic nation assumes the EU’s rotating presidency on July 1, and on Wednesday unveiled the program it plans to pursue through December, a period which will likely again be dominated by the U.K.’s process to leave the bloc.

“One Member State is about to leave the EU: we are preparing for the United Kingdom to withdraw with or without an agreement,” Finland said in the introduction. “Our aim is to defend the EU’s unity and interests. Brexit should not dominate the EU agenda at the expense of other major items.”

Finnish Prime Minister Antti Rinne told parliament in Helsinki that the key goal for the period is making the EU a global leader in fighting climate change. Finland wants EU leaders to agree this year on the key elements of the plan to commit to carbon neutrality.

The nation is also running the presidency in a more eco-conscious fashion than it did before. It’s reducing the number of meetings, adding video conferences, and donating money that could have been spent on souvenir ties and scarves to offset carbon dioxide emissions from the air travel of the delegates. It’s even recycled the logo from its previous presidency in 2006. Overall, it’s now spending 20% less on arrangements.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kati Pohjanpalo in Helsinki at kpohjanpalo@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tasneem Hanfi Brögger at tbrogger@bloomberg.net, Jonas Bergman

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