Council divided over increasing Paris Agreement pledge

EU environment ministers have again failed to agree on the need to raise the EU’s 2030 emissions cut target from 40%, and even whether to commit to the ‘aspirational’ 1.5°C global warming limit in the Paris Agreement.

A more ambitious 2030 target was embraced by a majority of members states, including Germany, France, Spain and Italy, but a continuing east-west divide was evident at an EU Council summit in Luxembourg on Friday, with Poland, Czechia, Hungary and Bulgaria among those opposing the idea.