Researchers and NGOs call for ambitious 2040 EU climate target deal ahead of leaders’ meeting
Clean Energy Wire
Governments of EU member states should use a leaders’ meeting this week to lay the groundwork for a deal on an ambitious 2040 emissions reduction target for the union, several NGOs and think tanks have said.
“After months of stalling on the EU’s 2040 climate target, leaders now have a narrow window to break the deadlock and send a clear signal ahead of COP30,” said Elisa Giannelli of think tank E3G.
EU heads of state and government are meeting in Brussels on 23 October to discuss a range of issues, including plans to introduce an EU climate target for the year 2040. The European Commission has proposed to reduce the EU's net emissions by 90 percent by that year, as a waypoint between the goal of reducing net emissions by 55 percent by 2030 and achieving climate neutrality by 2050. However, several countries have criticised the proposal as overly ambitious, delaying progress on an agreement.
Leaders should agree on economic and social guarantees, so that environment ministers can close the 2040 target deal at a later meeting, E3G said. “The [essential] condition for national leaders to back the 90-percent climate target is providing reassurance for the viability of industrial decarbonisation, with several Member States raising concerns over costs, competitiveness and exposure to unfair competition,” the think tank wrote.
German NGOs have called on German chancellor Friedrich Merz to put his weight behind an ambitious target. “Chancellor Merz must make it clear in Brussels that Germany remains a reliable partner in European climate policy,” said Stefanie Langkamp of the umbrella organisation Climate Alliance. Germany had reportedly sided with France in September to elevate discussions on the 2040 climate goal from the ministerial level to heads of government, delaying a vote on the proposal amid increasing concerns about its impact on industries and households.
Greenpeace Germany agreed that Merz plays a central role in the decision. “Merz must push through the target promised in the coalition agreement to reduce [EU] emissions by 90 percent by 2040,” said managing director Martin Kaiser. This could only be achieved if the chancellor stopped “his attacks on the agreed EU ban on new combustion engine cars.”
