Days before COP30, EU comes to a lukewarm NDC agreement
Less than a week before COP30 opens in Belém, EU Environment ministers struck a last-minute deal on the bloc’s 2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) – the EU’s formal climate action plan under the Paris Agreement.
The target to reduce emissions by 66.25 to 72.5% by 2035 prevents the EU from arriving at COP30 empty-handed, but delays, internal divisions, and attempts to weaken ambition including by pushing for the use of carbon credits by France, Poland, Hungary and Italy exposed deep cracks within the bloc.
The latest UN Emissions Gap Report released yesterday makes it clear: the Paris Agreement is on life support. As EU leaders make their way to Belém to attend the high-level segment, the EU has a responsibility to demonstrate ambition and unity now more than ever.
Fanny Petitbon, 350.org France Team Lead says: “The EU won’t be going to Belém empty-handed, but their target falls short of what the climate crisis requires and is well below Europe’s historic responsibility. If the bloc wants to keep its credibility, on the global stage and with its own citizens, this target should be treated as the floor not the ceiling.
The EU cannot ignore its climate debt to the world’s most impacted populations. In Belém, the EU must come prepared to discuss the need to scale up debt-free public finance, to support communities to accelerate their clean energy transition, and adapt to the climate crises. This is not about charity or solidarity, but responsibility.”
