The EU Parliament approved amendments to the EU Climate Law on Tuesday, adding a new intermediate target for 2040. The draft, agreed upon earlier with the Council, sets a 90 percent reduction in net greenhouse‑gas emissions compared with 1990 levels. It also pushes back the launch of the EU Emissions Trading System for the building and transport sectors (EU‑ETS 2) by one year, from 2027 to 2028.
The vote resulted in 413 votes in favour, 226 against and 12 abstentions. Once the Council signs off on the text, it will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU.
About five percentage points of the planned emissions cuts may be reached through international emission certificates issued outside the EU. By Parliament’s insistence, those certificates can be employed only in sectors not covered by the EU ETS for energy and industry (EU‑ETS 1) and only from partner countries whose climate goals and policies are compatible with the Paris Agreement.