Overview
- EU lawmakers approved a binding target to cut greenhouse gases by 90% from 1990 levels by 2040, with up to five percentage points allowed via overseas carbon credits from 2036, effectively lowering the domestic cut to about 85%.
- Negotiators postponed the inclusion of road and heating fuels in the EU emissions trading system to 2028 to limit consumer price spikes, and set a two‑year review cycle that could adjust measures if carbon sinks underperform.
- Officials including Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra hailed the deal as pragmatic and investment‑friendly, while critics warned that reliance on foreign offsets and revisions risks weakening real‑world emissions cuts.
- The UN’s GEO‑7, compiled by 287 scientists from 82 countries, warns warming is likely to exceed 2.0°C without stronger action, projects a 4% hit to global GDP by 2050 and 20% by 2100, and links pollution to about nine million deaths annually with one million species threatened.
- The report calls for immediate, large‑scale shifts in energy, finance, materials, and food systems, arguing that early costs would yield macroeconomic gains from mid‑century, reaching about $20 trillion per year by 2070.