The Environment, Climate and Food Safety Committee adopted its position on the Commission’s proposal for an amendment to the EU Climate Law on Monday, setting a new, additional, intermediate and binding 2040 EU climate target of reducing net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 90% compared to 1990 levels.

Flexibility for member states

The MEPs believe that the green transition and improving EU competitiveness go hand in hand. They therefore agree with the Commission’s proposal to introduce new flexibilities in how the targets can be met.

From 2036, up to 5% of net emissions reductions could come from high-quality international carbon credits from partner countries, but the MEPs want assurances that this will be subject to robust safeguards. The Commission proposed up to 3%.

They also want the possibility for domestic permanent carbon removals to be used to compensate for hard-to-abate emissions in the EU emissions trading system (EU ETS) as well as enhanced flexibilities within…