Overview
- EU environment ministers endorsed a 90% greenhouse‑gas cut by 2040 versus 1990, allowing up to five percentage points to be met with international certificates, effectively reducing in‑EU cuts to about 85%.
- The launch of the new emissions trading system for buildings and road transport (ETS2) is postponed by one year to 2028 in response to cost concerns.
- The political agreement was reached after overnight talks by qualified majority, meaning resistance from countries such as Poland and Hungary cannot block it.
- A separate 2035 plan for the EU’s UN submission remains unresolved after missed deadlines, with an earlier range of 66.25%–72.5% still to be fixed as a target or target band.
- UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report projects 2.3–2.5°C warming based on current pledges—de facto up to ~2.8°C given implementation gaps—and warns 1.5°C is likely to be exceeded in the next decade, increasing pressure ahead of COP30 in Belém.