The European Parliament on Thursday approved the EU’s plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040 and outsource 5% of this target to non-bloc countries through carbon credits, paving the way for it to become regional law.
The plan is a difficult political compromise and falls short of the 90% reduction in emissions that EU scientific advisers say is in line with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (the level needed to avoid more severe heat and drought).
But it remains more ambitious than the emissions reduction commitments of most major economies, including China.
Climate change ministers from EU countries already backed the plan last week to avoid empty-handed attending the UN’s COP30 climate summit, which opens on Monday in Belem.
The European Parliament supported this goal by a majority of 379 in favor, 248 against, and 10 abstentions. Lawmakers also rejected a proposal by the far-right parliamentary group Patriots for Europe to scrap climate targets altogether.
EU member states and parliamentarians will now negotiate the final details of how to reach the target, with each country allowed to buy up to 5% of its target in foreign carbon credits. This would reduce the required emissions reductions for European industry to 85% of 1990 levels.
Carbon credits, which consist of buying emissions reductions made by other countries, have been criticized for failing to deliver the promised benefits. The EU said it would develop strict quality standards for credits used to meet emissions commitments.
The pushback by some EU governments this year on climate action coincides with a difficult geopolitical backdrop as they struggle to increase defense spending and support sectors hit by U.S. trade tariffs.
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