The European Council announced on the 5th that member states have reached a consensus on amending the European Climate Law and formed a position paper. The Council also approved the update of the 2035 emission reduction targets for the EU and member states. According to the document, the European Council has maintained the mid-term climate goal proposed by the European Commission to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by 90% from 1990 levels by 2040. This position paper will serve as the foundational text for the follow-up trilateral talks between the European Council and the European Parliament. The European Parliament will form its own position, and the European Commission, the Council, and the European Parliament will hold consultations on the final legislative version. The European Council has also introduced measures related to emission reduction, such as allowing member states to offset their emission reduction targets of no more than 5% of the total emissions in 1990 by purchasing international carbon credits from 2036, allowing member states to flexibly allocate between different fields and policy tools, and solve the problem of insufficient emission reduction in individual fields without affecting overall progress. The European Council has proposed the establishment of a review clause, allowing the European Commission to propose climate law amendments under certain conditions to adjust the 2040 emission reduction targets. In addition, the European Council has decided to postpone the implementation of the carbon emissions trading system for buildings and road transportation from 2027 to 2028. On the same day, the Council of the European Union also approved the updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) target for the EU and its member states, which aims to achieve emissions reductions of 66.25% to 72.5% by 2035 based on 1990 levels, and will be officially submitted before the 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bel é m, Brazil. The European Union passed the European Climate Law in 2021, establishing the goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050 and reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% from 1990 levels by 2030. The European Commission officially proposed a revision in July this year to supplement the phased targets set for 2040. (New Society)