Getting national leaders involved is a risky move, however.
While the target only needs a qualified majority to pass a ministerial vote, agreement at the level of leaders would require unanimity — meaning all EU countries, including skeptics such as Hungary and Poland, would need to back the goal.
And with the European Council not due to meet until late October, waiting for the leaders’ verdict would delay agreement on the target.
This delay could in turn force the Commission and Denmark, which is currently steering talks among governments on the issue, to consider decoupling the 2040 target and the EU’s related 2035 goal, likely weakening the latter.
That’s because the U.N. wants countries to deliver their 2035 goals, a requirement under the Paris climate accord, by the end of September. On Sept. 24 world leaders will gather on the sidelines of the General Assembly to present their emissions-cutting plans.
The 2035 targets also form the centerpiece of November’s COP30 U.N. climate summit in Brazil. The conference marks the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement; France has often cast itself as the treaty’s custodian.
