EU Commission to propose 90% emissions reduction by 2040 — EnergyWatch

The climate transition must be accelerated. Otherwise, the EU will not reach its goal of becoming climate neutral by 2050, according to the EU’s climate council.

Therefore, the European Commission will now set a new climate target for 2040. This will ensure that the EU can reach its goal by 2050.

The new target is expected to be a 90% reduction in emissions compared to 1990 levels, according to the media outlet Politico on Tuesday.

The new target comes on the back of recommendations from the EU’s climate council, which is concerned that the union will not reach its target of becoming the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050.

Although the EU Commission is expected to follow the recommendation of the EU’s climate council, there is deep concern among EU leaders about the reaction from agriculture.

In recent weeks, there have been violent protests from farmers in Germany, France and Belgium. Among other things, they have blocked parts of the capitals with tractors.

Therefore, according to Politico, the EU Commission has removed wording from the recommendations that specifically addresses the agricultural sector.

The final draft of the 2040 recommendations has, according to Politico, dropped mention of a 30% cut in the agricultural sector’s emissions between 2015 and 2040.

Politico reports that the European Commission has also dropped recommendations on lifestyle changes and phasing out subsidies for fossil fuels.

This saddens the Danish Social Democrat member of the European Parliament, Christel Schaldemose.

”Scary day for the environment and climate. First, the European Commission drops the legislative proposal to reduce the use of pesticides. And later today they come up with climate targets for 2040.”

”The leaked draft shows that the EU Commission is also dropping the requirements to reduce methane emissions from agriculture,” writes Schaldemose on X.

Translated using DeepL with additional editing by Kristoffer Grønbæk