EU Delays 2040 Climate Targets With Industry, Farmers Under Pressure

This is a blow to the accelerationists in the Eurocrat elite. They have to delay the total destruction of the European economy so they can "build back better".

From The European Conservative

By Javier Villamor

The postponement highlights the bloc’s struggle to balance its climate goals with industry needs and competitiveness.

The European Union (EU) has decided to postpone the presentation of its 2040 climate target, initially scheduled for the first quarter of the year, EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra confirmed on March 3rd.

Hoekstra said he hopes to reach an agreement on the climate target ‘before summer’ and submit the nationally determined contribution—the national action plans under the Paris Agreement—for 2035 by September. This would meet the new deadline set by the UN in view of the COP30 in Brazil, scheduled for November.

This delay, which could last until June or July, highlights the European bloc’s internal difficulties in respecting its own guidelines. It occurs at a critical moment for global geopolitics, affected by a growing trade war driven by the Trump administration’s new tariffs and the strategic rivalry between the United States and China.

Meanwhile, Teresa Ribera, European Commission vice president and commissioner for Just Transition, said on March 17th that the 2035 climate targets are progressing well despite widespread criticism of their unrealistic nature and negative impact on European competitiveness.

According to Hoekstra, the initial target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040 compared to 1990 levels is still considered the “starting point.” However, the European Commission is exploring more flexible ways to ensure consensus among the 27 member states and the European Parliament.

The alternatives considered are international carbon credits, a more gradual trajectory of cuts during the 2030s, and a more significant role for technologies such as carbon capture. However, this more pragmatic approach highlights the EU’s difficulty reconciling its climate ambitions with the real needs of its industrial fabric and its position in global competition.

Existing climate legislation, particularly the ‘Fit for 55’ package, which aims to reduce emissions by 55% by 2030, is already creating significant economic tensions. A recent report by the Berlin think tank CEP pointed out that from a financial point of view, a target of 78% by 2040 would be more realistic compared to the 90-95% proposed by EU climate advisors.

Heavy industry, especially in countries such as Germany and Poland, complains that European environmental regulations undermine their competitiveness compared to powers such as China and the United States, whose standards are much lower. One example is steel production in the EU, which has fallen by 10% since 2019 due partly to the additional cost generated by the emissions trading system, while in China, it rose by 6% in the same period, according to GMK, a research group focused on the global steel industry.

In addition, climate regulations are hitting the agricultural sector hard, significantly increasing production costs. Farmers’ protests in 2023-2024 all over the continent highlighted the deep unrest generated by measures like mandatory fertilizer reduction and agricultural land restrictions, jeopardizing a crucial sector’s viability.

In the context of inflation and the energy crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine, these policies threaten to further weaken the EU’s position as a reliable global producer just when it could seize the current opportunities generated by the reorganization of global supply chains. The European Commission’s recent series of visits to the Americas, Africa, and Asia reflects the urgent need to secure external resources in the face of the European continent’s manifest unwillingness to exploit its own resources.

Pictured: Wopke Hoekstra, European Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth