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The EU has reached a compromise on its 2040 climate target, setting a 90 per cent emissions reduction goal from 1990 levels.
However, the deal allows for up to 5 per cent of this reduction to be achieved through foreign carbon credits, effectively lowering domestic efforts to 85 per cent.
This decision reflects a balance between economic pressures and environmental commitments.
European Union climate ministers have reached a long-delayed decision on the bloc’s 2040 emissions target after an all-night negotiation session in Brussels. The deal, concluded early on November 5, 2025, set a 90 per cent reduction goal from 1990 levels, but allowed new flexibilities that can reduce domestic carbon emission reduction.
The agreement permitted EU countries to buy foreign carbon credits to cover up to 5 per cent of the overall 90 per cent reduction goal, reported Reuters. That effectively lowers the required domestic cuts to 85 per cent, meaning industries can pay for emission reductions abroad rather than achieve them at home. Ministers also agreed to “consider the option, in future, to use international carbon credits to meet a further 5 per cent of the 2040 emissions reductions”, potentially weakening the domestic target by another 5 per cent, the news agency noted.
EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said the final deal was a hard-won compromise between competing national positions. “We’ve listened and worked with all parties around the table that brought us to a very good compromise,” he told reporters, as quoted by Euronews. “We have agreed to a legally binding headline 2040 target of -90 per cent, with a domestic target of 85 per cent and up to 5 per cent international credits. We have reaffirmed the flexibilities we have put on the table.”
The Euronews report added that ministers agreed to a pilot phase for the use of carbon credits between 2031 and 2035, with full implementation starting in 2036. “The trial period is to show some parties that we are in favour of using these credits, but it can backfire. It needs to be scientifically backed,” an EU official told Euronews.
The European Commission had initially proposed a 90 per cent reduction goal with only 3 per cent reliance on carbon credits, according to Reuters.
The bloc’s own Scientific Advisory Board had earlier cautioned that international carbon credits would undermine Europe’s internal emission reduction efforts, the Financial Times reported.
Pressure from member states such as France, Portugal and Poland, who sought greater flexibility, eventually led to the inclusion of a 5 per cent allowance, Reuters noted. Others, including Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden, had argued to keep the stricter 3 per cent limit, according to Euronews.
Despite the compromise, Euronews reported, Czechia, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland refused to back the revision, while Belgium and Bulgaria abstained. The deal nonetheless achieved the majority required for adoption.
Denmark’s climate minister Lars Aagaard defended the compromise in remarks reported by Reuters. “Setting a climate target is not just picking a number, it is a political decision with far-reaching consequences for the continent,” he said. “Therefore, we have also worked to provide comfort that it can be reached in a way that preserves competitiveness, social balance and security.”
Countries’ positions reflected deep divides over how fast Europe should decarbonise amid economic pressures. Poland’s Deputy Climate Minister Krzysztof Bolesta told Reuters: “We don’t want to destroy the economy. We don’t want to destroy the climate. We want to save both at the same time.”
While supporters said the agreement ensures Europe will not “go empty-handed” to the COP30 climate summit in Brazil, critics warned the expanded use of carbon credits could undermine credibility.