EU "softens" climate targets - Ministers reach agreement to reduce emissions by 85% by 2040
European Union environment ministers reached an agreement that softens the proposed 2040 target for reducing emissions. They also set a new climate plan for 2035.
After marathon negotiations that lasted two days, ministers unanimously approved the long-awaited climate plan, saving the bloc from the international embarrassment of showing up "empty-handed" at the COP30 summit this month.
The plan, which is a requirement in line with the Paris Agreement, sets a new target to reduce EU emissions between 66.25% and 72.5% below 1990 levels by 2035.
The plan has no legal force, but sets out the direction of the EU's climate policy for the next five years. The scale of the reduction is similar to an informal declaration the bloc presented at a summit in New York in September.
Among other things, ministers adopted a legally binding target to reduce emissions in the EU by 85% by 2040. The agreement requires an additional 5% reduction to be achieved by partially shifting pollution restrictions abroad, through the purchase of international carbon credits.
Ministers also supported a broad review clause that allows the EU to review
The pact also foresees a one-year delay in the implementation of the new carbon market for heating and vehicle emissions, which is expected to start in 2027.
Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland did not support the 2040 agreement, while Bulgaria and Belgium abstained.
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