Seven key points about the EU's new 2040 climate target

Euractiv

4 days ago

In just 15 years, Europe must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 90% compared to 1990 levels, the EU executive proposed today, while offering reluctant governments some leeway in how to get there. Here we break the new climate bill down into its essentials.
With targets of a 55% reduction by the end of this decade and net-zero by mid-century already in place, the EU had, until now, no intermediate target to keep governments on track. It is this 2040 milestone that the EU executive proposed today – after a delay of over a year.
'We took the time to think strategically about how we make this a success for Europe,' climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said on Wednesday as he presented the bill. Here's what you need to know:
The EU executive is following the advice of its climate advisory board, which said 90% was the bare minimum if Europe is serious about net-zero.
Three percentage points of that target can be met, from 2036 onwards, with 'high-quality' carbon credits created from extra climate action outside the EU, purchased on a UN-backed global market. This equates to a massive 150 million tonnes of outsourced emissions reduction.
Without offering such leeway, the Commission may have been unable to hold the 90% line. 'We do not see a majority in either Parliament or the Council for a 2040 target without flexibility,' said MEPs Peter Liese and Christian Ehler of the centre-right European People's Party.
Heavy industry and domestic airlines, squeezed by a cap on emissions that will reach zero by the end of the 2030s, will be able to continue operating by counting permanent CO2 removals using carbon capture (directly from the air or from biomass power plants) and storage (for example, in depleted offshore gas fields).
And with some sectors not making much progress at all – housing and road transport come to mind – inter-sector flexibility will be created so that overachieving industries can compensate for laggards.
A new set of laws, informally termed the 'Fit for 90' package, is expected in the second half of 2026, a senior Commission official said.
Germany remains the king of EU policymaking, the 2040 target confirms – as Euractiv reported, its final shape closely mirrors a government agreement struck in Berlin.
'A European paper factory that burns bioenergy and captures the CO2 can actually create [ETS] certificates,' explained Hoekstra, referring to emissions allowances under the EU's carbon cap-and-trade scheme.Importing UN-backed carbon credits could become a multi-billion-euro industry. A conservative estimate suggests EU countries could be charged upwards of €10 billion per year for the privilege of claiming the equivalent of 150 million tonnes of CO2 savings.
(rh, aw)