EU seeks 90% emission cuts by 2040 ahead of COP30 summit.
Industrial pollution costs Europe up to €428bn annually, says EEA report.
Disagreement among members threatens EU’s climate leadership and global credibility.
EU climate ministers are planning to pass a new climate change target on November 4, to avoid going to the UN COP30 summit in Brazil empty-handed, reported Reuters.
The aim is to secure backing for a goal to cut emissions by 90% by 2040 relative to 1990 levels, as well as sign off on an updated climate pledge to submit to the United Nations just days before the COP30 summit is due to start in Brazil.
According to Reuters, Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic are among those warning this is too restrictive for domestic industries struggling with high energy costs, cheaper Chinese imports and US tariffs.
Others, including the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden, cite worsening extreme weather and the need to catch up with China in manufacturing green technologies as reasons for ambitious goals.
The draft compromise ministers will discuss, includes a clause demanded by France allowing a weakening of the 2040 goal in future, if it becomes clear EU forests are not absorbing enough CO2 to meet it, reported Reuters.
Failure to agree could undermine the European Union's claims to leadership at the COP30 talks, which will test the will of major economies to keep fighting climate change despite opposition from US President Donald Trump.
But the EU, which has some of the world's most ambitious CO2-cutting policies, has struggled to contain a backlash from industries and governments sceptical that it can afford the measures alongside defence and industrial priorities.
Costs of Industrial Pollution
According to a 2024 European Environment Agency (EEA) report, costs of air pollution caused by Europe’s largest industrial plants are substantial averaging between EUR 268 to EUR 428bn per year.
In 2021, these costs corresponded to about 2% of the EU’s GDP. Just 1% of the most polluting industrial facilities — many of them coal power plants — caused half of the total damage.
The EEA report assessed trends in externalities of industrial air pollution from about 10,000 largest facilities in Europe, from 2012 to 2021.
At the same time, the EEA analysis also showed that environmental and health costs of European industry have decreased by a third (-33%) from 2012 to 2021. The EU energy sector has accounted for the vast majority — about 80% — of the total decrease, mainly by adopting best available techniques (BAT) and shifting to renewables and less polluting fuels largely as result of EU action.
The World Resources Institute (WRI) report stated that a proposed 90% emission cut would keep the EU on track for climate neutrality by strengthening its energy security through investments in its industrial competitiveness.
