Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider is taking part in the Council meeting of the EU Environment and Climate Ministers on 4 November 2025 in Brussels. At the heart of the discussions is the EU climate target for 2040 and the adoption of the new EU Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for 2035 under the Paris Climate Agreement. The new 2040 target will lay down the EU road to climate neutrality for the coming decade.
The European Union seeks to be the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050 – a binding goal that has already been enshrined in the EU Climate Law. In an interim step, greenhouse gas emissions are to be reduced by 55 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. The EU is well on the way to achieving this target. Now it is time for the next step: The European Commission proposes a 90-percent reduction by 2040. To give Member States greater flexibility in achieving the target, a limited share of international climate projects that meet high standards can be counted towards reductions. The current version of the EU Climate Law also envisages a Commission review of relevant legislation every five years.
Prior to the meeting, Federal Minister Schneider stressed: “In global climate action, the European Union has a particular responsibility. With the new target for 2040, we are laying the foundation for the next EU NDC. I am confident that we will send a strong message to the international community that the EU is a reliable partner. Europe can and will demonstrate that robust climate action can go hand-in-hand with a strong economy. Germany supports the 90-percent reduction proposed by the Commission, which is in line with our national targets.”
The meeting on 4 November is a decisive step towards a legal adoption of the 2040 target. That requires a qualified majority in the Council and is followed by deliberations in the European Parliament. The adoption of the 2040 target also paves the way for presenting the EU NDC at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil. The new target will be the basis for the 2035 NDC, which the EU also hopes to adopt at tomorrow’s Environment Council meeting. The NDC will then be submitted to the United Nations. The outcome of the Environment Council will thus directly inform the preparations for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in November 2025.