EU reaches weak agreement on 2040 climate target

Brussels, 5 November / WAM / Environment ministers of the European Union countries reached a final agreement on the climate goal for the year 2040 after marathon negotiations that continued throughout Tuesday and until Wednesday morning, which led to the approval of a new climate plan for the European Union until the year 2035, in a step that saved the Union from the embarrassment of heading to the climate summit.

COP30 is scheduled to start on November 10, without a clear plan.

The agreement reached unanimously among the ministers reduced the severity of the original proposal to reduce emissions, as it stipulated reducing European Union emissions by a rate ranging between 66.25 and 72.5 percent compared to 1990 levels until 2035, a goal that is not legally binding but determines the general direction of European climate policies during the next five years.

This recorded consensus among ministers is in line with informal statements made by the Union during the climate summit in New York last September.

The ministers also adopted a new legal target to reduce European Union emissions by 85 percent by 2040, while allowing an additional reduction of 5 percent through the purchase of international carbon credits to cover emissions abroad, in addition to the possibility of using similar credits to cover another 5 percent of each country’s national goals.

The agreement included a comprehensive review clause that allows for amending the 2040 target if it is proven that climate policies negatively affect the European economy. It also stipulated a one-year postponement in the implementation of the new carbon market for heating and automobile emissions, which was scheduled to enter into force in 2027.

Although the agreement was supported by the majority of the twenty-seven countries of the Union, it was rejected by Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland, while Bulgaria and Belgium abstained from voting.

The European Parliament is now expected to begin formulating its negotiating position on the 2040 climate goal in preparation for the start of negotiations with the European Union Council to finally adopt the goal as binding law.

Pro/Z/WAM

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