Environment Council: "Climate risks reached critical levels and could become catastrophic without action"

The Environment Council stressed "the urgent need to accelerate action to meet the EU's long-term environmental and climate goals, particularly the six 2030 priority objectives of the 8^th Environment Action Programme", in its conclusions on 16/12/2025. "Many of the climate risks have reached critical levels and could become catastrophic unless urgent and decisive action is taken", it declared.

Based on two recent reports, "Europe's environment 2025" from the European Environment Agency (09/2025), and the Commission's mid-term review of the 8^th Environment Action Programme (03/2024), Ministers recognised that insufficient progress has been made to reach the objectives listed in the programme, the need to make further efforts, and noted the unsatisfactory state of Nature and biodiversity.

These six objectives are the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the strengthening of natural carbon sinks, the strengthening and integration of climate change adaptation, including ecosystem approaches, a clean circular economy, a zero-pollution environment, free of toxic substances, the…