Climate protection: EU countries have more scope for destinations for 2040

In the European climate boards for 2040, the EU Commission plans to give more freedom under pressure. According to a Brussels legislative proposal, the aim remains to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of the EU countries by 90 percent compared to 1990. For some of the emissions, the states should be able to count CO2 certificates from abroad.

One thing is certain: the amount of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane output within the EU is to drop by at least 87 percent compared to 1990. The EU allows so -called carbon sinks to be counted. These are processes in which carbon dioxide is stored from the air again in a natural way in forests and seas or through technologies such as CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage).

According to the Commission’s proposals, the EU countries are likely to buy CO2 certificates from the Commission’s proposals and thus pay for carbon dioxide memory or savings in third countries. In a similar way, Switzerland pays electric buses in Thailand.

In order to avoid fraud with double counts or only short-term CO2 savings, Brussels wants to set uniform quality standards for such certificates from abroad. So far, these standards are not yet available.

The value for 2040 is an intermediate goal on the way to the EU’s climate neutrality by 2050. Then the 27 countries should only emit as much as nature can be picked up or can be stored using technical methods. For a first intermediate destination – 55 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 – researchers see the EU on the right track, after which it should be more difficult.

The EU countries must now negotiate with the European Parliament on the climate goals. Of the plans for 2040, they also want to derive a legally non -binding goal for 2035, with which the EU can drive to the next Cop30 climate conference in Brazil in November. The decision could be made at a meeting of the EU Environment Minister in Brussels in September.