Cyprus not on course to meet 2030 climate targets

The European Commission will ask Cyprus to submit a corrective plan within three months to speed up emission cuts, after its annual report found the island is not on course to meet its binding 2030 targets, it announced on Monday. Cyprus, together with Croatia and Italy, is expected to exceed its permitted emissions in the first compliance period, 2021 to 2025, and is likewise projected to overshoot in the second period, 2026 to 2030, alongside Austria, Germany, Italy, Malta, Ireland, Lithuania and Sweden. An EU-wide surplus of about 140 million tonnes of allowances could cover the nine countries’ deficits, but the Commission said no transfers between member states have been reported. Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra will soon write to the nine governments. The Commission will give its opinion on the plans within four months of receiving them, and compliance will be checked for the first period and in 2032 for the second. Across the EU, emissions in sectors are projected to fall about 38.5 per cent by 2030 from 2005 levels, 1.5 percentage points short of the 40 per cent goal. Net greenhouse gas emissions fell 1.6 per cent in 2025 and are 39 per cent below 1990 levels.