EU struggle to reach emissions targets

THE EU's member states have not yet reached an agreement on key emissions targets before the UN’s COP30 summit in Brazil, and ministers were to meet again yesterday to thrash out a deal, according to Brussels officials.

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PARTIAL view of the Hangar Convention and Exhibition Centre of the COP30, the UN Climate Change Conference in Belem, Brazil.

(AFP)

EU countries have been haggling for months over two separate targets for slashing greenhouse-gas emissions: one for 2035 that they must bring to the UN climate talks, and the other for 2040.

Talks in Brussels ended on Tuesday without an accord and continued through the night.

“We believe we have the basis for a political deal. We expect to formally conclude a deal when we resume in a few hours,’ a spokesman for Denmark, which currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said early on Wednesday.

EU officials have stressed the importance of the talks, which come ahead of the COP30 summit next week in Brazil.

French Environment Minister Monique Barbut had warned that turning up empty-handed to the summit would spell “disaster” for the EU.