The European Union is using its strength as a wealthy trade bloc of half a billion consumers to set the global pace of climate change action, challenging others to match the ambitions of its latest carbon cutting plans.
In its most ambitious bid yet to hit a goal of cutting net greenhouse gas emissions by 55% from 1990 levels by 2030, the EU on Wednesday laid out proposals that would consign the internal combustion engine to history and raise the cost of emitting carbon for heating, transport and factories.
The question now is whether the EU gambit becomes an established benchmark upon which investors and sectors like the auto industry set transition strategies, and how big emitters like the United States and China respond ahead of U.N. climate talks later this year.