EU split over climate target, deal next week in doubt, draft shows

10/9/2025 6:32

European Union countries are split over how ambitious to make their new climate change target, putting into doubt plans to strike a deal next week, their latest compromise proposal showed on Tuesday.



EU countries are negotiating a legally binding 2040 climate change target, which their ministers had planned to approve at a summit on September 18 - a move designed to reaffirm the EU's commitment to fight climate change ahead of this year's U.N. COP30 global climate negotiations.



However, countries including France, Poland and the Czech Republic want to delay the deal and escalate the talks to government leaders.



Climate change has made Europe the world's fastest-warming continent, unleashing deadly heat and fires, but the target has stoked political tensions over how much the EU should invest in tackling global warming, as governments also try to increase defence spending and support struggling industries.