Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The European Union plans to establish emissions reduction targets for 2035 and 2040 ahead of the COP30 climate summit in November. This was announced by the European Commission president on Tuesday, following the bloc’s failure to meet a U.N. deadline to approve these goals earlier this month.
“Ahead of COP30 in Belem, we will set NDC targets for 2035 and 2040,”
Ursula von der Leyen delivered a video message at an EU event in Brussels. The U.N. refers to countries’ climate targets as “nationally determined contributions”.
What flexibility and pragmatism did Von der Leyen emphasise?
While encouraging EU countries to decide, von der Leyen recognised the importance of pragmatism due to disagreements among member states about the objectives.
“How we reach these targets will be different. The world has changed. Global competition is fierce and not always fair. We need more flexibility, more pragmatism, but by staying the course, we provide stability for workers, clarity for businesses, and certainty for investors,”
She said.
Von der Leyen stated that Europe remains committed to its climate objectives, with Brussels reducing bureaucratic hurdles to support businesses in the green transition. Additionally, it is investing in power grids to ensure consumers reap the rewards of more affordable renewable energy.
Will major countries agree on targets before the COP30 summit?
According to reports, US President Donald Trump has tried to steer away from climate action, economies have stagnated, Europe has focused more on defence spending, and some EU members have urged the Commission to delay its green policies.
Moreover, not everyone is confident that the EU will reach an agreement on its targets in time. Countries such as France, Germany, and Poland have called for government debates on the climate goals during a summit scheduled for late October. This will leave member states with just a few weeks to complete and approve the targets ahead of COP30.
How many nations met the UN deadline on climate goals?
As reported, the original UN deadline for countries to submit updated climate pledges, called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), was February 10, 2025. This submission is part of the Paris Agreement framework, which requires countries to update their NDC every five years.
By that February deadline, only 13 out of 195 parties (or countries) to the Paris Agreement had submitted their new NDCs, which represented only a tiny fraction of total emissions and total economic output.
