EU likely to miss UN climate deadline due to internal disputes

EU environment ministers are expected to confirm on Thursday that the Union will not be able to submit its new climate targets by the UN deadline of the end of September. This is due to ongoing disagreements between member states.

The delay could weaken the EU's position at next week's UN climate summit, where ambitious targets – for example from China – are expected.

The Union was originally supposed to adopt new commitments for 2035 and 2040 this month. However, Germany, France, and Poland have requested that negotiations be postponed until the summit meeting of heads of state and government in October.

Member states are divided: Czechia and Italy are questioning the target of a 90% reduction in emissions by 2040 and are calling for a weakening of climate policy, including the lifting of the ban on the sale of new cars with combustion engines from 2035. In contrast, Spain and Denmark are pushing for a stricter approach in view of climate extremes.

For now, the EU wants to issue at least a declaration of intent. According to the proposal, the new target could mean a 66.3% to 72.5% reduction in emissions by 2035. The final agreement is to be reached before the COP30 summit in November.
(reuters, est)