EU Environment Ministers Meet in Luxembourg to Debate Carbon Market Overhaul Ahead of COP31 and COP17

The European Union’s environment and climate ministers will meet in Luxembourg on Monday 12 October 2026 for an Environment Council session dominated by one question: the EU ETS review — how far should the bloc go in overhauling its carbon market, the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS)? Ministers will also seek to lock in the EU’s negotiating positions ahead of two major United Nations summits: the COP31 climate conference in Antalya and the COP17 biodiversity conference in Yerevan.

The EU ETS review debate

The session will open with a policy debate on the European Commission’s proposed review of the EU ETS, the bloc’s cap-and-trade system for pricing carbon emissions. The Commission tabled the package on 17 July 2026 as part of its efforts to implement the EU’s 2040 climate target, and it is currently being examined by the Council’s preparatory bodies. Ministers will outline their views and priorities on key aspects of the proposal, which also forms part of the “One Europe, One Market” roadmap.

According to Agence Europe, ministers will be invited to answer three central questions: the overall structure of the proposal’s aims, including changes to the linear reduction factor that sets how fast the emissions cap shrinks each year; the balance between extending free allowances for industrial installations and channelling revenues into investment; and whether to extend the system’s scope to waste incinerators and the aviation and maritime transport sectors.

Two camps before the talks

Agence Europe reports that ministers arrive with two distinct camps. A coalition of 10 member states led by Italy and Poland wants to curb the ambition of the ETS revision, pointing to pressure on industry. On the other side, nine member states — including the Nordic countries, Spain and Portugal — want the proposal changed as little as possible so the EU stays on course for its 2040 target of cutting emissions 90% compared with 1990 levels. France and Germany lean toward greater ambition, though with significant qualifications that remain unclear, while Austria, Belgium and Malta are undecided, according to the report.

COP31 and COP17 positions

After the carbon market debate, ministers will be invited to approve conclusions setting out the EU’s main negotiating positions for the UN climate change conference COP31, scheduled for 9–20 November in Antalya, Türkiye, and for the UN biodiversity conference COP17, set for 19–30 October in Yerevan, Armenia. The Yerevan summit will mark the first global review of collective progress toward the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and its 2030 targets.

Read our preview of the biodiversity summit in Yerevan

NGOs urge ministers not to weaken the market

Three major environmental networks — Climate Action Network Europe, the European Environmental Bureau and Carbon Market Watch, together representing more than 200 organisations — sent a joint open letter to EU environment ministers on 5 October urging them not to weaken one of the EU’s most important tools for cutting emissions. In the letter, the groups called on ministers to keep a strong and predictable carbon price and to keep sight of what is at stake as they consider the review.

Also on the agenda

Under other business, the Irish presidency and the European Commission will brief ministers on the outcome of the UN desertification conference (UNCCD COP17), which was held this summer in Mongolia.

FAKTA

• Meeting: EU Environment Council, Luxembourg, 12 October 2026
• Main item: Policy debate on the Commission’s proposed EU ETS review, tabled 17 July 2026
• 2040 target: 90% emissions cut compared with 1990 levels
• Also: EU conclusions ahead of COP31 (9–20 Nov, Antalya) and COP17 biodiversity (19–30 Oct, Yerevan)
• Watch: Two camps — 10 states led by Italy and Poland favour curbing ambition; 9 including the Nordic countries, Spain and Portugal favour minimal changes

The outcome of Monday’s debate will shape the EU’s climate rulebook for the rest of the decade — and set the tone for the bloc’s diplomacy at the two UN summits that follow within weeks.