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The EU’s environment ministers agreed on Wednesday on the bloc’s domestic climate target to cut CO2 emissions by 2040, after intense political pressure to deliver on climate commitments and maintain Brussels’ role as a climate action leader at next week’s COP30 UN climate summit.
The EU27 agreed on a range to set a 2035 climate target to reduce net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 66.25–72.5% below 1990 levels, covering all sectors of the economy and all GHGs, including methane.
The range takes into account the 2040 climate target, setting the path to cut emissions by 90% and will be submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
“We are sending a strong signal ahead of COP30 that we remain fully committed to keeping the goals of the Paris Agreement. It enables us to push for more global climate action when we meet the rest of the world at COP30,” said Lars Aagaard, Denmark’s minister for climate.
Nationally determined contributions or NDCs are a key outcome of the Paris Agreement, which requires each party to the convention to update its climate plans every five years. They set out the efforts each country has made to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Currently, there is a significant lack of NDCs. Around 70 parties have submitted them, while close to 200 have not.
EU officials want to make sure COP30 in the Brazilian city of Belém sends the signal that the clean transition is irreversible, a senior official at the European Commission said, adding that this year’s COP is about ambition for implementation and how to close the gap in emissions reduction.
“We want to reinforce the importance and value of multilateralism. We want to show the Paris Agreement is working and delivering,” the Commission official added.
This year’s climate summit is also expected to pledge more finance to struggling nations, namely those mostly affected by climate change, such as islands and countries in the global south.
In 2024, the EU and its 27 member states contributed €31.7 billion in climate finance from public sources. An additional €11 billion in private finance was mobilised to support developing countries in reducing their GHG emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change, according to the Commission.
Carbon pricing
One way to reduce GHG emissions is through carbon pricing, the Commission’s official said, describing it as “one of the big priorities” of the EU going to Belém.
The EU uses its own emissions trading system (ETS) as one of the main key financial revenues for the bloc. The EU’s carbon border tax will also raise funds, starting in January 2026, to be channelled into the green transition.
Last year, carbon pricing generated around €40 billion, which was reinvested in the economy, the EU official said, adding that while investments in clean energy have doubled, the pace remains “too slow”.
“We need to make sure the world economy and investors understand there is only one way to invest in the future,” the EU official said in reference to clean technologies.
Maja Pozvek, senior EU affairs manager at the Clean Air Task Force think tank, regretted the lack of ambition of the 2040 climate target, noting it will be reflected in the EU’s contribution at COP30.
“If the EU is serious about decarbonisation as part of its growth strategy it must champion clean technologies and seize opportunities for first-mover advantage, not settle for the lowest common denominator,” Pozvek said.