Climate NGOs Go to Court Against EU Over Insufficient Emissions Targets

Annual emissions in the buildings, agriculture, waste, small industry, and transport sectors were unlawful, they said.

On Tuesday, Climate Action Network (CAN) and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) have taken the European Commission to court, urging the Commission to revise its greenhouse gas emissions targets for the bloc’s member states from now until 2030.

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They said the annual emissions limits through 2030 for each European Union country in the buildings, agriculture, waste, small industry, and transport sectors were unlawful. These sectors account for about 57 percent of the total 27-country bloc’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The EU set a 40 percent aggregate emissions reduction target, compared to 1990 levels, for these sectors and an economy-wide target of 55 percent less emissions for the EU as a whole.

The NGOs argued that the EU’s overall climate ambition remains alarmingly off-track from the 1.5 degrees Celsius global warming limit set out by the Paris Agreement.

To address this, the EU must enable more ambitious emission cuts in the near term and achieve at least a 65 percent reduction in gross emissions from 1990 levels by 2030, the NGOs said.

The case was initially presented in February 2024, following the European Commission’s refusal to reassess annual emissions allocations for its member states until 2030.

A hearing at the European Union General Court could potentially be held in the second half of 2025 and a judgment released in early 2026.