A proposed climate law to enforce the European Union's commitment to be climate-neutral by the year 2050 has drawn criticism from environmental organizations and activists including Greta Thunberg.

Plans for the European Climate Law, as it's known, were unveiled by the European Commission on Wednesday.

In a statement issued alongside the announcement, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the law as the "legal translation of our political commitment, and sets us irreversibly on the path to a more sustainable future. It is the heart of the European Green Deal." Among other things, the Commission said its Climate Law included "measures to keep track of progress and adjust our actions accordingly."

Announced toward the end of last year, one of the European Green Deal's central aims is for the EU to be climate-neutral — that is to say "an economy with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions" — by the year 2050.



Poland, which is heavily dependent on coal, is currently the only EU country not to back this aim. In December 2019, the European Council noted this stance, stating: "One Member State, at this stage, cannot commit to implement this objective as far as it is concerned, and the European Council will come back to this in June 2020."