by Kate Abnett
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission will present on February 6 its proposed climate objective for 2040 which provides for a 90% reduction in net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by this deadline compared to 1990 levels, in in line with the recommendations of the European Scientific Advisory Council, we learned from sources familiar with the matter.
The EU has already set targets for 2030 (55% reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions) and for 2050 (carbon neutrality), under a Climate law adopted in 2021. An objective was missing for 2040, which will be the subject of a legislative proposal.
It is up to the future European Commission, appointed after the European elections in June, to enshrine this new level in law, which requires a unanimous vote of the 27 member states.
Poland, Denmark and Bulgaria have already announced their intention to follow this trajectory; other countries, like Hungary, reserve their response, calling for realism.
The European Union’s ambitions on climate change are one of the central topics of the European election campaign.
The European Scientific Advisory Council, created in 2021 by the climate law, recommends maintaining the quota for greenhouse gas emissions within a limit of 11 to 14 gigatons of CO2 equivalent – or 90% to 95% – by 2040.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett; French version by Sophie Louet, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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