EU summit reaches climate agreement to work for carbon neutrality by 2050

BRUSSELS - The European Union (EU) leaders reached a climate agreement to work for carbon neutrality by 2050 here Friday, European Council President Charles Michel said via his social media account.

"Nothing worth having comes easy... But we did it! The EU will be Climate Neutral by 2050," Michel tweeted after leaders agreed at the EU summit in Brussels on "this important goal."

However, the "agreement" has left one member state, reportedly Poland, out of the commitment.

"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," said the European Council Conclusions released at wee hours of Friday.

To ensure energy security, some member states have indicated that they use nuclear energy as part of their national energy mix, said the Conclusions.

Meanwhile, to preserve the EU's competitiveness, European leaders support the European Commission's intention to propose a carbon border adjustment mechanism concerning carbon-intensive sectors, said the document.

The European Commission on Wednesday unveiled the European Green Deal, which outlined the EU's roadmap to combat climate change, and submitted it to the two-day summit kicking off Thursday.

The deal aims at "no net emissions of greenhouse gases in 2050 and where economic growth is decoupled from resource use."