Open letter: No More Delays, We Want ambitious Climate Targets for 2040
The climate crisis is the top concern for young people across Europe, many of whom are already experiencing the impacts of extreme weather and know they will face even greater consequences in the future. As the European Commission prepares to publish its 2040 climate target on 2 July 2025, we joined forces with Generational Climate Europe and Youth and Environment Europe to call for a high level of ambition, backed by real, domestic climate action.
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Dear President von der Leyen, Executive Vice-President Ribera, and Commissioner Hoekstra,
We, Generation Climate Europe, Youth and Environment Europe, and the European Youth Forum, three of the largest coalitions of youth-led networks working on climate and environmental issues at the European level and representing the voices of thousands of youth organisations and millions of young Europeans, are calling on you to to ensure that the European Commission puts forward an ambitious and timely 2040 climate target achieved through domestic action in line with climate science and intergenerational fairness.
In February 2024, the European Commission officially proposed a net 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 compared to 1990 levels. In September 2024, In September 2024, President von der Leyen called on Executive Vice-President Ribera and Commissioner Hoekstra to “work closely with all stakeholders to prepare a new architecture beyond 2030 to enable us to reach net-zero by mid-century”, explicitly including the enshrinement of the “90% emission-reduction target for 2040” in the European Climate Law. However, the ongoing delay in formalising this target is deeply concerning to us, young Europeans. We, therefore, urge you to swiftly introduce a legally binding target that ensures, at a bare minimum, a 90-95% reduction in emissions by 2040 compared to 1990 levels.
It is essential that the 2040 target will be met through real, domestic climate action, not by outsourcing responsibility through international carbon credits. Offsets have consistently failed to deliver credible, lasting emissions reductions. Relying on them would not only contradict the recommendations of the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, but also risk delaying vital investments in Europe’s own clean technologies and industrial transition. Every euro spent on offsets abroad is a euro not spent on building energy resilience, green jobs or innovation. Moreover, allowing offsets would send the wrong message globally, weakening the EU’s ability to lead by example at a time when climate credibility has never mattered more.
The urgency could not be clearer: 2024 marked the first year the planet surpassed the critical +1,5°C warming threshold. As the fastest-warming continent, Europe is already facing increasingly frequent and severe extreme weather events. And the consequences are clear, from the floods in Valencia to droughts. In 2024 alone over 4.192 km2 of land was burnt due to wildfires, while 59% of the Netherlands are at risk of flooding. Delaying climate action will significantly increase future costs and threaten the EU’s economic stability, which has already suffered more than half a trillion euros in climate-related damages between 1980 and 2021 according to the European Environment Agency.
Dear President von der Leyen,
As President of the European Commission, your leadership has been instrumental in shaping the EU’s climate and sustainability agenda during the past six years. From your ambitious European Green Deal to the adoption of the European Climate Law, you have shown a strong commitment towards the protection of our planet and its people. This makes us confident that, under your leadership, the EU can honour its climate commitments and continue to lead by example.
Dear Executive Vice-President Ribera,
Your decades-long commitment to protecting our shared future - from your tenure as Spain’s Secretary of State for Climate Change in the late 2000s, to your role as Minister for the Ecological Transition, and now as a key implementer of the European Green Deal - reflects your admirable dedication to environmental justice and sustainable development. This makes us confident that, under your guidance, the EU can honour its climate commitments and continue to lead by example.
Dear Commissioner Hoekstra,
Therefore, once again, we urge you - and place our trust in your leadership - to put in place the swift adoption of an ambitious and legally binding 2040 domestic climate target of at the very least 90%. Introducing this target without delay is essential to provide clarity for policymakers, investors, and citizens alike, and to ensure the EU remains a credible global leader in addressing the climate crisis.
Yours sincerely,
- Agata Meysner, President, Generation Climate Europe
- Enrico Bosters, Chairman, Youth and Environment Europe
- Rareș Voicu, President, European Youth Forum
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