EU recommends ambitious 2040 climate target, goes light on farming

European Commission urges 90 percent cut to greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 as dozens of farmers protest.

The European Commission has recommended that the European Union slash net greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent by 2040, an ambitious target that will test political appetite for the region’s fight against climate change before EU elections.

While the overall target was within the range recommended by the EU’s official climate science advisers, the EU executive weakened part of the recommendation concerning agriculture, in response to weeks of protests by farmers angry about EU green rules, among other complaints.

A previous draft of the EU target, seen by the Reuters news agency, had said agriculture would need to cut non-CO2 emissions 30 percent by 2040 from 2015 levels, to comply with the overall climate goal. That was removed from the final draft.

“We need to make sure we have a balanced approach,” European Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told the European Parliament, as he unveiled the proposal on Tuesday. “The vast majority of our citizens sees the effects of climate change, does want protection, but is also worried about what that implies for their livelihood.”

In a sign of how politically fraught the environmental issue has become, with farmers venting their anger around the bloc, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen earlier gave key ground by burying a plan to halve chemical pesticide use by the end of this decade.