EU sets 2040 climate target: To slash greenhouse gas emissions by 90%

BRUSSELS - European Union countries gave the final approval on Thursday to a new climate target to slash greenhouse gas emissions 90% by 2040, pressing ahead with the bloc's ambitious climate agenda despite political resistance.

The new climate target is a hard-fought political compromise, struck by governments and EU lawmakers last year. It is more ambitious than most major economies' emissions-cutting commitments, including China's.

In practice, the target will require an 85% emissions reduction from European industries against 1990 levels. The EU will pay developing countries via carbon credits, so they cut emissions on Europe's behalf to make up the rest, to reach 90%.

The EU agreed the target last year following months of wrangling between countries, such as Spain, which say worsening droughts and wildfires justified more ambitious goals, and those like Poland and Italy, which sought to soften the emissions cuts, arguing that struggling industries cannot afford the upfront investments.

A reinforced majority of EU countries' ministers gave the final formal sign-off to the legally binding goal at a meeting in Brussels. The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary opposed it. The climate target will now pass into EU law.

As part of the agreement, the EU will also consider the option in future to use international carbon credits to meet a further 5% of its 2040 emissions reductions - potentially further softening the domestic efforts required.

The deal also delays the launch of a politically sensitive new EU carbon market by one year, to 2028 - a move designed to win over countries sceptical of the climate goal.

The target, which is designed to keep Europe on track to meet its pledge to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, falls short of the 90% domestic emissions cut recommended by the EU's climate science advisers.

It is also weaker than Brussels' original plan for the goal, reflecting disagreement between EU governments over the speed and cost of their green agenda.

-Reporting by Kate Abnett; Editing by Charlotte Van Campenhout and Tomasz Janowski/Reuters