Nine EU countries risk missing 2030 emissions targets: Brussels

Nine countries in the European Union, including Germany and Italy, are on track to fall short of their emissions-cutting targets for 2030, Brussels has said as the UN climate talks opened.

The European Commission said on Monday it would request the nine offenders "each submit a corrective action plan to accelerate the implementation and development of emission reduction measures and investments".

In a report issued on the sidelines of the United Nations COP31 climate summit in Türkiye, the commission assessed EU members' progress on their national plans to reduce greenhouse gases.

It found Italy, Croatia and Greek-administered Cyprus had already exceeded their emissions targets for the 2021-2025 period, while Austria, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Malta and Sweden risked failing to meet their 2030 targets.

European Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra will write to all nine countries asking them to submit plans within three months to get back on track, it said.

Overall, the EU's net greenhouse gas emissions fell by 1.6 percent last year from 2024, according to the provisional figures released by Brussels.

The 27-nation bloc's emissions are now 39 percent below 1990 levels.

The EU has set a target of slashing emissions by 90 percent by 2040 and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

But environmental groups accuse the EU of backsliding over the past two years by repeatedly softening climate regulations for companies.

TRT World / AFP — TRT World / AFP