The European Union on Wednesday, July 2nd, announced its long-delayed target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.
After months of tough negotiations with EU states, Brussels announced it would stick to the objective announced last year of cutting emissions by 90% by 2040, compared to 1990 levels.
The EU currently has legally binding targets of a 55% emissions reduction by 2030 and complete neutrality (100%) by 2050. The goal of achieving a 90% intermediate target for 2040 has caused an internal rift among member states, many of whom have been unwilling to sign off on the new targets.
While citizens face skyrocketing energy bills, factory closures, and an incipient industrial recession, Brussels insists on staying the course.
EU climate chief Wopke Hoekstra acknowledged the “sensitive” debate, saying Brussels was keeping an “ambitious” goal while being “pragmatic and flexible on how to achieve it.”
Among the most controversial proposals are international carbon credits. Under this system, a member state could fund emissions-reduction projects in third countries—such as wind farms in Africa or Asia—and count those reductions as its own.
EU environment ministers will discuss the objective at a meeting in mid-July, ahead of an expected vote to approve the measures on September 18.
