BRUSSELS — European governments struck a provisional deal to agree on a significantly weakened 2040 climate target in the early hours of Wednesday.
The European Union’s 27 environment ministers met Tuesday to decide on the bloc’s new emissions-cutting goals for 2035 and 2040, but talks stalled until well after midnight.
After 18 hours of negotiations, a majority of 27 countries gave preliminary approval to what one diplomat described as a “take it or leave it” text on the 2040 target. Ministers will reconvene from 7:45 a.m. to reach a formal agreement.
“We believe we have the basis for a political deal. We expect to formally conclude a deal when we resume in a few hours,” said a spokesperson for Denmark, which is chairing the discussions.
The draft agreement on 2040, seen by POLITICO, will hollow out the European Commission’s proposal and demand the postponement of a core climate law.
The EU executive had proposed a 90 percent cut in emissions by 2040 compared to 1990, while allowing countries to outsource 3 percentage points to other nations — meaning the bloc would commit to achieving at least 87 percent through domestic climate efforts.
While the headline target stands, the draft deal only commits the EU to an 85 percent domestic emissions cut, with the option of going even below this figure.
The EU would collectively outsource up to 5 percentage points by purchasing so-called carbon credits from other countries — with the draft text scrapping language that referred to such offsets only as a “possible” option and explicitly setting out a “domestic reduction … by 85 percent.”
On top of that, the new text allows countries to outsource another 5 percentage points of their national targets.
The draft agreement also seeks changes to existing green legislation.
Responding to a demand from Italy, countries will demand that “zero- and low-carbon fuels” continue playing a role in “road transport,” a reference to weakening the bloc’s 2035 combustion-engine phaseout.
To appease Poland, the draft deal also calls on the Commission to postpone the introduction of a new carbon tax on transport and heating fuels — key to meeting the bloc’s existing 2030 climate target — by one year. The text also suggests heavy industry be given free pollution permits under the bloc’s carbon market for longer than planned.
A deal on the 2035 target, which is not legally binding but mandated by the Paris Agreement, remains uncertain. A second draft text, also seen by POLITICO, sets this goal between 66.25 and 72.5 percent, echoing an earlier informal statement.
Yet this goal requires unanimous approval, and three diplomats said Hungary was as yet unable to agree.
Louise Guillot contributed reporting.
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