With CRAP-30 Deadline Approaching, EU Members Still Can't Wangle Their Way To Producing Emissions Targets

EU member states are still wrangling over crucial commitments on the climate crisis with no sign of agreement, according to a leaked draft text seen by the Guardian. With just weeks to go before a UN-set deadline, the European Commission and key member states remain at loggerheads over targets on greenhouse gas emissions, with the prospect of a strong outcome looking increasingly imperilled.

The negotiating document seen by the Guardian leaves blanks marked with square brackets, and placeholder text where the key numbers laying out new targets should be. Experts said the lack of any numbers, even of a provisional nature, or a range, was a poor sign at such a late stage of the process.

Niklas Höhne, a co-founder of the research organisation New Climate Institute, said: “It is disappointing to see that the internal discussions on the EU’s new climate target do not yet include target values. It is getting very late. It is now extremely urgent that the EU presents a new climate target to the international negotiations. So far, only 28 out of 196 countries have submitted a new target. Only the EU’s submission could unleash momentum and move other countries to follow suit.”

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Any perception of a lack of commitment from the EU would cause problems at Cop30, a summit already troubled by US hostility and geopolitical headwinds. Donald Trump has, for a second time, announced the withdrawal of the US from the Paris agreement, and is dismantling climate policies and environmental institutions in the US. Although no other countries have yet followed him out of the Paris agreement, countries that want to slow or obstruct progress at Cop30 – including petrostates such as Russia and Saudi Arabia – have been heartened by Trump’s stance. Other countries may see Cop30 and climate targets as less of a diplomatic priority amid geopolitical turmoil – China and India, which have yet to produce their NDCs, have formed warmer relationships with Russia.

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/sep/08/eu-states-still-fighting-over-crucial-targets-in-run-up-to-cop30-leaked-draft-shows