European Union lawmakers have endorsed a 2040 climate target to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 90% from 1990 levels, allowing up to 10% of the reductions to come from UN-backed carbon credits, diluting the bloc’s ambition.
The deal, reached after 18 months of politically fraught talks, would allow five points from international offsets and another five from outsourced reductions, meaning domestic emissions cuts could fall by 80%, while the remainder of the target is met with creative accounting.
COP30 highlighted Europe’s diminishing influence, with limited progress on fossil-fuel phase-outs and weak pressure on major emitters, who appear unwilling to rally to the EU position.
The target will be reassessed every two years and reviewed every five, but the loopholes risk turning a headline ambition into largely symbolic action.
