The European Union’s 27 governments have struck a deal slightly watering down a proposed 2040 target for cutting planet-warming emissions, and set a new 2035 climate commitment. Ministers unanimously approved the bloc’s long-overdue climate plan, rescuing the EU from the international embarrassment of showing up empty handed this month’s COP30 summit on climate change in Brazil.
A requirement under the 2015 Paris Agreement, the plan sets a new goal to slash EU emissions by up to 72.5% below 1990 levels by 2035. That plan is not legally binding because lawmakers in the European Parliament now have to agree on their own precise position on the 2040 target.
But it sets the firm direction of EU climate policy for the coming five years. This commitment is similar to an informal statement the EU presented at a climate summit in New York in September.
Ministers also adopted a legally-binding target for cutting emissions in the EU by 90% by 2040. The deal mandates that 5% of this reduction can be achieved by outsourcing pollution cuts abroad, through the purchase of international carbon credits. Initially this allowance was intended to be just 3% of the total, but pressure from President Macron of France increased the number. .
Governments also backed a wide-ranging review clause that allows the EU to adjust its 2040 target in the future if climate policy genuinely proves to have negative impacts on the EU’s economy. The deal also foresees a one-year delay to the implementation of the extension of the emissions trading scheme, EU:ETS, covering buildings and surface transport, which had been set to start in 2027.
Hungary, Slovakia and Poland did not support the 2040 deal, while Bulgaria and Belgium abstained. The rest of the EU27 countries backed it.
Some reaction to the decision
- CAN Europe: 2040 Climate Target Agreed: a deal, but not a breakthrough
- European Environment Bureau: 2040 climate target: EU governments choose loopholes over leadership
- IETA, the non-profit organisation representing businesses committed to smart, well-designed and effective carbon markets to help achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and reach net-zero emissions by 2050
- Clean Energy Wire: Germany welcomes EU’s 2040 emissions goal as NGOs warn of “very weak signal” before COP30
Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 
Thank you for publishing this succinct summary of the new official EU position on addressing the threat of climate change. But it is of concern how dismissive so many of the commentators that you cite at the end remain.
You’re right about the commentators. This also shows how hard it was for ministers to reach any decision at all.