European Climate Law Amendment: 2040 Climate Target

This Regulation amends the European Climate Law (Regulation (EU) 2021/1119), adding a Union intermediate climate target for 2040: a 90% reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions compared with 1990. It allows the use, from 2036, of high-quality international carbon credits consistent with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, capped at 5% of the Union's 1990 net emissions, so that at least 85% of the reduction must be achieved within the Union; it also provides that permanent carbon removals within the Union may be used to offset hard-to-abate residual emissions covered by the ETS, and provides flexibility across sectors and instruments. The 2030 target of a reduction of at least 55% and the 2050 climate neutrality objective remain unchanged. The Commission must review this Regulation every two years from 6 March 2027 and, when proposing the post-2030 climate framework (revisions of the ETS, ESR and LULUCF), take into account competitiveness, simplification, social fairness, energy security and affordability.