Brazil Von der Leyen: EU wants to step up its climate commitment
According to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the European Union wants to further expand its commitment to climate protection. "We have come here to double our commitment, to further accelerate implementation, to close the remaining gaps, to intensify our partnerships and to ensure real progress," said the German at the start of a climate summit in front of dozens of heads of state and government in Belém, Brazil, where the COP30 world climate conference begins next week. The European Union will do its part to make the COP30 a success.
06.11.2025, 22:04
SDA
Von der Leyen initially left open how exactly the EU intends to strengthen its commitment. The EU Commission has just suffered a setback in terms of climate protection: The EU states did agree to reduce emissions by 90 percent by 2040 - but with significantly more flexibility and fallback options than proposed by the authority.
Reductions are possible
For example, up to five percentage points of the reductions can be bought through deals with non-European countries and do not have to be achieved on European soil. Under pressure from the countries, fuels are also not to be included in the trading system for greenhouse gas certificates until 2028, one year later than planned.
The countries are also increasingly calling for more flexibility in achieving climate targets and weakening laws due to concerns about burdens on the economy and geopolitical challenges.
As the European Environment Agency (EEA) recently announced, the international community is on course to achieve its 2030 climate target of reducing emissions by 55% compared to 1990.
