BRUSSELS — The European Commission on Wednesday will publish a long-awaited revision of the bloc’s climate legislation to set a new emissions-reduction goal for 2040, a senior sommission official told POLITICO.
One year ago, the EU executive recommended the bloc target a 90 percent cut in planet-warming emissions by 2040 compared to 1990 levels as an intermediate step between its 55 percent reduction goal for 2030 and its net-zero aim for 2050.
But the Commission did not follow up with a formal proposal to enshrine the new target in law, meaning the EU’s legislative process involving national governments and the European Parliament has not yet started.
The official, granted anonymity to disclose internal planning details, said the plan was now to publish an amendment to the European Climate Law on Feb. 26 — at the same time as the Commission releases its Clean Industrial Deal, an overarching plan to revitalize industry and help it decarbonize.
