Luxembourg Stresses ‘Backwards Step’ on Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions ‘Not Acceptable’

From Tuesday 4 to Wednesday 5 November 2025, Luxembourg Minister of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity, Serge Wilmes, attended the extraordinary meeting of the European Union “Environment” Council in Brussels.

According to the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity, the meeting involved discussions which focused on the European Climate Law, the EU’s nationally determined contribution submitted to the UNFCCC, as well as the recent proposal by the European Commission aimed at simplifying the regulation on deforestation (EUDR).

In the run-up to this meeting, during the “Environment” Councils of 18 September and 21 October 2025, Minister Wilmes reiterated the Luxembourg Government’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040, in line with scientific recommendations, while ensuring the necessary predictability for all concerned stakeholders and strengthening industrial competitiveness. Throughout the preparatory stages, Luxembourg supported the Danish Presidency in its efforts to reach an ambitious agreement.

The ministry reported that in relation to European Climate Law, ministers met for an exchange of views on the proposal to amend the European Climate Law, in particular the level of ambition regarding the proposed 90% reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 put forward by the Commission and the future arrangements for implementation.

Minister Serge Wilmes thanked the Presidency for its perseverance and said: “We stand with you to achieve a result today on this difficult file, together with our nationally determined contribution. But we need an outcome that keeps us on a trajectory compatible with 1.5°C. A step backwards will not be acceptable, nor will a smokescreen (…). I support the proposal for a 2040 climate objective of minus 90%. This is the level of ambition recommended by science. The key word here is ‘credibility’.”

After marathon negotiations that continued throughout the night, the Council finally agreed on the inclusion in the Climate Law of the binding objective to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040. However, the agreement allows for an adequate contribution towards this objective through high-quality international credits under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, up to a ceiling of 5%, as well as other flexibilities.

The Council also called on the European Commission to prepare a legislative package in the coming years to implement this objective. A review clause requires the Commission to assess every two years how the Union’s decarbonisation pathway is being implemented and to consider the latest scientific knowledge, technological developments and the evolving challenges and opportunities for European competitiveness, to propose adjustments to the implementation legislation where necessary.

Minister Wilmes warmly welcomed this ambitious objective, which Luxembourg has supported from the beginning of the discussions, but regretted that the potential use of international credits had to be increased to 5% in order to reach an agreement.

After prolonged negotiations on the subject of “European Union nationally determined contribution submitted to the UNFCCC”, the ministers adopted the European Union’s nationally determined contribution (NDC), a document reflecting the EU’s climate ambition for 2035 which must be submitted before COP 30, scheduled to take place from Monday 10 to Friday 21 November 2025, in Belém, Brazil.

The ministry noted that NDCs are an integral part of the Paris Agreement, which requires each party to update its NDC every five years. They set out the efforts made by each country to reduce emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The EU submits a single NDC on its own behalf and on behalf of its Member States.

Luxembourg supported the compromise proposal prepared by the Danish Presidency and thus the EU objective of –72.5% compared with 1990 levels by 2035: “Our position is well known: the indicative objective for 2035 that we will include in our nationally determined contribution must follow from the Climate Law and the 2040 target. Coherence with the Paris Agreement, the 1.5°C goal and the latest scientific recommendations must be ensured. The credibility of the European Union, and our influence in international negotiations, depend on it,” Minister Wilmes recalled during his intervention.

The ministry highlighted that Luxembourg regrets that the final NDC adopted contains a range for the 2035 indicative target, with a reduction in greenhouse gases between 66.25% and 72.5%. The Minister emphasised that for Luxembourg, only the upper end of this range — 72.5%, based on a linear reduction between the 2030 and 2040 targets — can be considered credible.

Moreover, under “Any Other Business”, the Council discussed the recent Commission proposal to simplify the regulation on deforestation.

Luxembourg joined the Commission and other Member States in their wish to simplify the regulation in order to reduce administrative burdens for primary producers in countries where deforestation is not, in practice, a risk. However, the Luxembourg Government said it cannot support the proposal in its current form and has called for the entry into application of the regulation to be postponed until the IT issues preventing effective implementation have been resolved.

Luxembourg also proposed limiting due diligence obligations to the first placing on the European Union market. Mindful of the need to preserve the integrity of the Single Market, Luxembourg also insisted that simplification must not lead to deregulation. To avoid creating uncertainty for the sector, Luxembourg highlighted the need to guarantee investment security, which requires clarity, legal certainty and predictability and emphasised that the regulation must remain fully consistent with the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).