EU approves 90 per cent emissions cut by 2040 – four states oppose

The new 2040 climate target stems from a political compromise reached last year by EU governments and MEPs after difficult negotiations. The commitment is more ambitious than those made by most of the world’s major economies, including China.

Photo: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Photo: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images

On Thursday, European Union countries definitively approved a new climate target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90 per cent by 2040. The EU is continuing its ambitious climate policy despite political resistance in some member states.

Disputes within the EU

In practice, the target will mean an emissions reduction of about 85 per cent in European industry compared with 1990 levels. The remaining share is to be achieved through carbon credits in developing countries, which would allow emissions to be reduced on behalf of the Union and bring the overall reduction to 90 per cent.

The agreement follows months of disputes among member states. Some countries, such as Spain, argued that worsening droughts and forest fires require more ambitious climate targets.

Others, including Poland and Italy, sought to soften the planned reductions, arguing that weakened industrial sectors could not afford high initial investments.

The target received final formal approval from member state ministers at a meeting in Brussels. The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary opposed it. The legally binding target will now become part of EU law.

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Possibility of additional carbon credits

The agreement also allows the EU in future to use international carbon credits to cover an additional 5 per cent of emissions reductions by 2040. Such a step could further reduce the scale of domestic measures needed to reach the target.

The deal also postpones the launch of the new EU emissions trading system by one year, to 2028. The measure is intended to reassure countries that had been sceptical about the climate target.

The new target is meant to keep Europe on track to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Nevertheless, it falls short of the level recommended by EU scientific advisers, who proposed a 90 per cent reduction in emissions within the Union itself.

The approved target is also more moderate than the European Commission’s original proposal. The compromise reflects disagreements among member state governments over the pace and cost of implementing the Union’s green policies.

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