The European Parliament will vote on revisions to the European Climate Law (ECL), setting a binding intermediate climate goal of net 90pc greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions by 2040, compared with 1990 levels. This follows approval by the parliament's environment committee.
A total of 50 members of the environment committee approved the 2040 targets on 19 January, with 26 voting against and one abstention. Parliament's largest centre-right group, the EPP, was split, with eight out of 11 members voting against the 2040 targets together with far-right and conservative groups.
The parliamentary draftsman, Ondrej Knotek — a member of the far-right Patriots for Europe group — voted against the 2040 target. He had presented a legal report calling for the 90pc reduction goal to be deleted.
But the large majority in committee indicates a smooth passage through plenary at a session in Strasbourg, expected on 9-12 February.
The "[committee] vote shows that the four-group compromise is still holding", said Austrian member Lena Schilling, referring to approval by the EPP, Greens, center-left S&D and the Left groups.
Following approval by a majority in parliament's plenary, the agreement will require adoption by a qualified majority of EU states and publication in the EU official journal to enter into force. Parliament and EU states provisionally reached the agreement on 9 December.
The revised ECL will allow for use of "high-quality" international carbon credits from 2036 to meet the -90pc target. Such credits can constitute up to 5pc of 1990 EU net emissions ensuring an "ambitious and cost-efficient" domestic net GHG reduction of 85pc, compared to 1990 levels by 2040.
The revised ECL also delays, by one year, the inclusion of road transport and heating fuels in the specific emissions trading system (ETS2) from 2027 to 2028. Parliament said the deal also allows for domestic permanent carbon removals to be used to compensate for hard-to-abate emissions in the ETS.
