The 28 EU member states appeared to still be divided over long-term climate goals during a debate between the Environment ministers on Friday.
The EU is still trying to convince the last three members to commit to becoming carbon-neutral by 2050.
After intense discussions, the meeting did end with an agreement on the EU’s message for the next International Climate Conference (in Santiago, Chili, in December). However, the EU did not announce it will “reinforce” its commitment to reducing greenhouse gases before a scheduled progress report next year, which is what the Finnish EU presidency wanted.
They were supported in this by several member states, including France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK.
The EU will “update” the goals set out in the Paris agreement if needed.
The Climate Action Network criticised the EU’s behaviour. “The EU is dragging its feet and once again delaying its decision on changing the 2030 targets,” the organisation said in a press release. […]
Three countries (Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic) have still not agreed to the long-term carbon –neutral targets, which require unanimity to be adopted at EU level.