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EU split over climate target, deal next week in doubt, draft shows

The latest compromise proposal from the European Union showed that there is a split among member states over how ambitious they want to be with their new climate target. This puts into question plans to reach a deal by next week.

EU countries are currently negotiating a legally-binding 2040 climate change goal, which their ministers were planning to approve on a September 18 summit. This move is intended to reaffirm EU commitment to fighting climate change in advance of this year's U.N. global climate negotiations at the COP30.

France, Poland, and the Czech Republic, for example, want to postpone the agreement and escalate the discussions to the government leaders.

Climate change has caused Europe to become the fastest-warming continental in the world, unleashing deadly fires and heat. But the target has stoked tensions between governments over how much they should invest on global warming while also trying to increase defense spending and support struggling industry.

The latest compromise proposal from the member countries shows that governments are divided on how much of the emission target can be achieved by purchasing foreign carbon credits, which would reduce the effort required by European industries.

The document, which was dated 9 September and seen by, stated that "the level, timing, and conditions of international carbon credit contributions to the 2040 goal, require political discussions." The ambassadors of EU countries will discuss this on Friday.

Overall, the goal would be to reduce net EU greenhouse gas emission by 90% from 1990 levels by 2040. A portion of this could be covered by purchasing foreign carbon credits.

In 2036, the Commission proposed that countries purchase credits to cover 3% each of their 2040 emission target. In the compromise proposal these numbers are now surrounded by brackets, which indicates that countries have not agreed on them.

Document was written by Denmark which currently holds the rotating EU presidency. A spokesperson for Denmark’s EU presidency stated that it had spoken with each EU member state before writing the compromise. They are still trying to reach an agreement next week.

If the EU fails to reach a deal by next week, it could miss the mid-September deadline for submitting new climate plans to U.N. in time for the global COP Climate Summit in November.

The draft also showed that other changes to the proposal will give countries more assurances about the EU's future green policies and their impact on industry when they are designed.

(source: Reuters)