Overview
- After overnight talks in Brussels, EU ministers endorsed a 90% emissions cut by 2040 versus 1990 levels, requiring only 85% domestically and allowing use of international carbon credits.
- The deal permits credits to cover 5% of the bloc-wide 2040 goal, enables further outsourcing through national flexibilities, delays a new transport and heating carbon market by one year, and adds review clauses.
- Ministers also set the EU’s 2035 NDC at 66.25%–72.5% below 1990 levels to take to COP30, avoiding the risk of arriving without an updated plan.
- UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report finds that full implementation of current pledges still leads to 2.3–2.5°C of warming, notes the small improvement is partly methodological, and says the U.S. Paris withdrawal will offset gains.
- The UN says emissions must fall about 55% by 2035 from 2019 levels for a 1.5°C pathway and about 35% for 2°C, while only roughly 60 Parties have submitted 2035 targets as calls intensify to pivot from pledges to delivery and finance.