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The European Union has made a 90% net greenhouse-gas reduction by 2040, compared with 1990, a binding climate target. The law allows up to 5 percentage points of that reduction to come from international credits, so at least 85% must be achieved domestically. This puts a new legal milestone between the EU’s binding 2030 target and its 2050 climate-neutrality goal—but the detailed policies for meeting it after 2030 are still to be proposed.
What is the EU’s 2040 climate target?
The amended European Climate Law sets a binding target to reduce the EU’s net greenhouse-gas emissions by 90% by 2040, relative to 1990. “Net” means the target accounts for emissions and removals; it does not mean that every source of emissions must be eliminated by 2040.
The target’s accounting rules distinguish domestic action from international credits. At least 85% of the 1990-to-2040 reduction must be achieved domestically. International credits can contribute up to 5 percentage points, under the law’s framework, beginning in 2036. The 90% headline therefore should not be read as a requirement for a 90% domestic cut.
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| Milestone | EU target | Status and basis |
|---|---|---|
| 2030 | At least 55% net emissions reduction versus 1990 | Binding target under the European Climate Law, as stated by the European Commission. |
| 2040 | 90% net emissions reduction versus 1990; at least 85% domestic reductions and up to 5% international credits | Binding target in the amended law, formally adopted by the Council on 5 March 2026; the Commission says the amendment entered into force in April 2026. |
| 2050 | Climate neutrality | Binding objective under the European Climate Law. |
The 2040 target is not merely a Commission proposal. The Climate Law entered into force in 2021, and the Council formally adopted its amendment on 5 March 2026. The sequence leading to that decision included the Commission’s recommendation in 2024, its proposal for a 90% target in July 2025, and a provisional Parliament–Council agreement in December 2025.
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Is the EU still on track for its 2030 target?
The European Commission reports that EU net greenhouse-gas emissions fell 2.5% in 2024 compared with 2023. Since 1990, the EU has reduced emissions by more than 37%; excluding international aviation and shipping, the reduction is 39%. Over the same period, the economy grew by 71%.
Those figures show substantial progress, but they do not guarantee the 2030 result. The Commission says the EU is on track to meet its target only if existing and planned measures are fully implemented by the EU and Member States and investment flows remain strong. Its progress page says emissions need to fall by an average of 140 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent per year through 2030.
Which parts of the transition need to move faster?
The Commission’s 2025 staff report identifies transport and buildings as sectors where annual emissions reductions need to accelerate significantly. It also says Member State projections fall short of expected contributions for buildings, and for transport and industry when only existing measures are counted. Agricultural emissions reductions have slowed. Separately, the Commission’s assessment under the Climate Law points to a deteriorating trend in the land-use, land-use change and forestry carbon sink.
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What changes in the EU’s climate-policy approach?
The new era is a change in both the legal milestone and the explicit framing of policy, not a declaration that climate action has been abandoned or that every instrument has been replaced. The European Green Deal combines economy-wide emissions goals with a stronger emissions trading system, protection of natural carbon sinks and social support. The Commission also presents clean-technology markets, skills, funding and supply chains as part of industrial action.
The amended law directs the Commission to take priorities including competitiveness, simplification, social fairness, energy security and affordability into account when preparing future proposals. The Council’s summary also describes flexibility across sectors and policy instruments, and EU-based permanent carbon removals under the emissions trading system for residual emissions that are hard to abate.
These provisions set a framework; they do not settle every future trade-off or establish how well the eventual policies will work. Two design tensions will matter as the rules are developed:
- Environmental integrity: how much of the target is delivered through domestic emissions cuts, and how international credits and permanent removals are accounted for.
- Transition speed and distribution: how quickly emissions fall while limiting costs for households and businesses, supporting affected groups and maintaining competitiveness and energy security.
What policies and support are already part of the picture?
The EU’s approach combines carbon pricing with sector-specific measures and support for people and businesses affected by the transition. The Commission says Member States will use emissions-trading revenue for climate and energy projects and for the social dimension of the transition. Its Green Deal overview describes the Social Climate Fund as support for vulnerable citizens and small businesses; that funding commitment should not be mistaken for proof that all funds have already been disbursed.
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The Council’s account of the amended law says the full operation of ETS2—for road transport, buildings and other covered sectors—moves from 2027 to 2028. The law also provides flexibility across sectors and instruments. These features may affect how costs and reductions are distributed, but the target itself does not specify all the rules consumers, companies or individual sectors will face after 2030.
What remains undecided after the 2040 target?
The Commission is to prepare the relevant post-2030 legislative proposals. The binding target is established, but the detailed sector-by-sector measures needed to reach it are pending. The amended law’s priorities and flexibility provisions guide that next stage; they are not a completed post-2030 policy package.
For readers, that distinction is central: the EU has committed in law to the 2040 destination, while the policies that determine the precise obligations and incentives on the way there still have to be developed. Whether the target is met will depend on implementation, investment and the final design of those measures.
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