The environment ministers of the European Union’s Member States will meet in Council on Tuesday 21 October in Luxembourg. The meeting, chaired by the Danish Ministers for the Environment, Magnus Heunicke, and Climate, Lars Aagaard, is expected to lead to the adoption of conclusions with a view to COP30, as well as on the ‘Water Resilience Strategy’.
COP30 in Brazil. On climate-related aspects, ministers will focus their attention on the adoption of Council conclusions on COP30, which begins on 10 November in Belém (Brazil).
Some points were still being debated, in particular the fact that some Member States in favour of renewables wanted a direct reference to renewable energy. The passage on carbon pricing instruments did not satisfy certain countries either (see EUROPE 13731/5).
“We have made progress, even if unanimity has not yet been reached”, explained a European diplomat. However, according to our information, no major changes are expected.
A source of tension, the text makes no mention of the EU’s final ‘nationally determined contribution’ (NDC), expected before the COP. This includes a target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2035, which is expected to be calculated on the basis of the EU’s 2040 target.
2040 target. Despite being on everyone’s lips, this 2040 climate target will not be part of the official discussions. A discussion between EU leaders will first take place on 23 October, at the request of a number of countries, including France and Poland (see EUROPE 13730/10).
A further Environment Council is then scheduled for 4 November to try to adopt a position just before the start of COP30 (see EUROPE 13728/9). One European diplomat dismissed out of hand the possibility that interinstitutional negotiations could start before then.
“That leaves just five or six working days. So the best we can hope for is a general agreement from the Council. There will not be time to launch tripartite negotiations with Parliament, which will not yet have a position”, he explained (see EUROPE 13730/34).
European Oceans Pact. An exchange of views will be held to gather contributions on the environmental aspects of the Pact and the preservation of marine biodiversity (see EUROPE 13638/10).
Water Resilience Strategy. The EU Council is expected to adopt conclusions (see EUROPE 13731/9) on the strategy presented by the Commission in June (see EUROPE 13653/7).
Along the same lines, the Member States want to place an emphasis on a holistic approach that includes: protecting the supply and quality of water in the EU, strengthening resilience and promoting investment in water-related technologies.
International meetings. The Danish Presidency of the EU Council and the European Commission will discuss the Intergovernmental Panel on Chemicals, Waste and Pollution, which was established in Uruguay in June 2025 and for which a first plenary session is scheduled for 2 to 6 February 2026 in Geneva (see EUROPE 13730/13).
Two other ‘miscellaneous’ items will be devoted to international meetings, with a look back at COP15 on wetlands, held in Zimbabwe in late July 2025, and a debate on another failure of negotiations for a global treaty on plastic pollution, in Geneva in August 2025 (see EUROPE 13694/7).
REACH Regulation. At Sweden’s request, a ‘miscellaneous’ item will be devoted to the revision of the REACH Regulation, which governs the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals. The European Commission will be asked to assess the current timetable, even though the revision had been announced for the end of 2025, but the impact study was rejected by the European Commission’s internal committee in late September (see EUROPE 13732/17). (Original version in French by Florent Servia and Pauline Denys)