The European Union expects to agree a new climate target within weeks, according to Teresa Ribera, the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President responsible for green policy.
Speaking during New York Climate Week, Ribera said the Commission intended to present its updated plan ahead of the UN climate conference in Brazil in November.
Ribera’s comments follow the bloc’s failure to land a deal in time for leaders’ appearances at the UN General Assembly in New York this week and an anticipated miss of a UN end-September notification deadline because of internal divisions among member states over the level of ambition.
To bridge the gap, EU countries last week endorsed a “statement of intent” signalling the goal they ultimately aim to approve. Several capitals, including Paris and Warsaw, have insisted heads of government debate the target before signing off, with the next European Council scheduled for 23 October.
Ribera, who is Ursula von der Leyen’s No. 2 in the executive, said the Commission would keep to its long-term decarbonisation pathway to 2050 and was working to align competitiveness measures with climate ambition. “We intend to fulfil our commitments and our pathways,” she said, adding that postponing action would be “madness” and “committing suicide”, comments she framed in environmental, social and economic terms.
Negotiations among the 27 member states have centred on the EU’s 2040 milestone, with governments discussing a legally binding target to cut net greenhouse-gas emissions by 90% from 1990 levels. Diplomats said a proposal also envisages a limited role for international carbon credits, a point that has drawn mixed views in national capitals. Earlier this month, plans to fast-track approval were pushed back after reservations from several governments, including France and Germany, over the timing and specifics of the package.
The Commission’s aim is to land a consolidated position before COP30, which will take place in Belém, Brazil, in November. EU officials view timely agreement as important both for signalling to international partners and for providing a policy anchor for industry investment decisions through the 2030s. Business groups have urged the EU to provide clarity and hold its course on the 2040 objective to avoid undercutting investor confidence.
Ribera’s intervention comes amid a complex backdrop for climate policy. While the EU has maintained its 2050 climate-neutrality objective and has enacted major components of the European Green Deal, political and economic headwinds have sharpened debates over implementation costs, industrial competitiveness and the pace of transition in energy-intensive sectors. The Commission’s current framing—“a clean, just and competitive transition”—reflects efforts to balance emissions cuts with measures to support EU industry and protect households.
Member-state positions diverge on several fronts. Countries with significant industrial bases have pressed for stronger guarantees on competitiveness, energy security and carbon-leakage protections. States with higher shares of coal and gas in their energy mix have called for additional flexibility and support to manage the transition. Others, including some Northern and Western European countries, want a target consistent with pathways that keep the EU aligned with its commitments under the Paris Agreement. The “statement of intent” agreed last week was designed to keep momentum while leaders prepare to deliberate at the October summit.
The precise contours of the 2040 package will have material implications for sectoral legislation in the next Commission work programme, including power-sector decarbonisation timelines, carbon market parameters, industrial policy tools and budgetary support for clean-technology deployment. Alignment with international partners will also be scrutinised closely at COP30, where major economies are expected to table or clarify their own 2035–2040 trajectories.
In New York, Ribera linked climate ambition with economic strategy, arguing that a credible decarbonisation path is necessary for Europe’s medium-term competitiveness. That line is consistent with recent industry messaging that policy certainty reduces financing costs and helps scale clean-tech supply chains in Europe. But it also sets expectations for member states to resolve outstanding differences on effort-sharing, the role of carbon removals and safeguards for trade-exposed industries.
EU divisions put 2040 climate target deal at risk as states dispute use of carbon credits
