Timing for EU's 2040 climate goal slips

Market: Emissions
17/03/25

The European Commission appears to have pushed back an official proposal for a 2040 climate target for the EU, which will further delay the bloc's submission of a 2035 climate plan to the UN.

The commission's agenda does not include the presentation of a legal proposal for a 2040 climate target before the end of the first quarter. The commission in February 2024 confirmed its preference for a 90pc cut in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by 2040, from a 1990 baseline — but this was not a formal proposal.

The commission had scheduled an amendment to the European Climate Law for the first quarter of 2025. That amendment would write an intermediate target for 2040 into EU law. The 2040 target would also provide the basis for the EU's updated nationally determined contribution (NDC) — or climate plan — to UN climate body the UNFCCC. Countries and jurisdictions were expected to submit updated NDCs, covering up to 2035, to the UNFCCC by 10 February.

Officials said work is "ongoing" on the bloc's 2040 climate target. It would be presented "sooner rather than later" and there is still "time left until the end of the first quarter".

An EU source indicated reluctance to present a 2040 climate plan before Poland's presidential elections on 18 May, which may have a runoff on 1 June. Poland chairs meetings of EU ministers until 1 July. The source also said several other parties to the UNFCCC have missed the 10 February deadline to submit their 2035 emissions reduction targets.

By Dafydd ab Iago

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05/05/25

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01/05/25

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30/04/25

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