Environment Council: Luxembourg calls for greater climate coherence

At the close of the extraordinary meeting of the European Union's Environment Council held in Brussels on Thursday 18 September 2025, Luxembourg Minister Serge Wilmes expressed his deep disappointment at the lack of agreement to supplement European climate legislation with a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of 90% by 2040, and to finalise the European Union's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for 2035 as part of the Paris Agreement.

Despite the sustained efforts of the Danish Presidency, the Member States confined themselves to a policy debate on the proposal to amend European climate law, and to a declaration of intent to submit the EU's NDC in time for COP30, which will be held in November 2025 in Belém. Luxembourg regrets this missed opportunity to strengthen the EU's climate credibility.

«This is a monumental loss of time and credibility that I deeply regret. By postponing crucial decisions, we are disappointing our fellow citizens, hurting our businesses and losing the confidence of our partners outside the European Union,» said Minister Serge Wilmes.

Luxembourg reaffirms that the NDC for 2035 must be the result of an agreement on the climate law and the target for 2040 that will be included in it, and must be consistent with the objective of limiting global warming to 1.5°C set out in the Paris Agreement and the latest scientific recommendations. The Minister also insisted on maintaining a minimum ambition of -90% in 2040, in line with other major emitters such as the United Kingdom.

He also stressed that it is essential to accelerate the decarbonisation of our energy systems in order to reduce our energy dependence and create opportunities for our industries and our citizens in an increasingly competitive world. We have a shared responsibility to ensure that our strategic directions look to the future and do not bind us to the past.

Luxembourg said it was ready to subscribe to the text of the climate law as put forward by the Danish Presidency of the Council, including limited flexibility of 3% via international credits subject to strict qualitative criteria, and called for rapid adoption of the amendment to the climate law and the NDC before COP30.

Finally, Minister Serge Wilmes pointed out that Europe, a region of the world that is warming twice as fast as the average, must act in the common interest in order to preserve and even strengthen its competitiveness, energy security and leadership role in climate diplomacy.