WWF regrets that the Parliament has endorsed a proposal riddled with loopholes and far from what science demands. On paper, it may still resemble the Commission’s proposal, but creative accounting with international offsets has hollowed it out from within because of the pressure of many parties.  

However, WWF welcomes the fact that the European Parliament strengthened the safeguards designed to ensure any offsets used are of high quality, a small but important improvement. Yet, WWF warns that allowing offsets at all remains a risky distraction from the urgent need to reduce emissions at home. 

“Today’s vote is a small step forward from the Council’s position, but nowhere near a science-based pathway. The new safeguards are a plaster on the wound; they cover the problem but don’t heal it. Only genuine, domestic emission cuts can close the gap to 1.5°C,” said Michael Sicaud-Clyet, Climate Policy Officer at WWF EU. 

WWF is also disappointed that the Parliament confirmed the so-called ‘emergency brake’ for the 2040 target if nature carbon sinks underperform, as this would further reduce the effective target if Member States fail to protect their forests and natural carbon stores.  

“This emergency brake risks letting Member States off the hook for neglecting their forests, while conveniently ignoring the fact that excessive logging is the real reason Europe’s forests are storing less CO₂. On top of that resilient forests do far more than absorb CO₂, they sustain biodiversity, retain water, and support our climate resilience,” said Sofia Ghezzi, Climate and Land Use Policy Officer at WWF EU. 

Another disappointing move by the Parliament is to support the Council’s proposal of integrating permanent removals into the ETS, which risks distorting the carbon market and discouraging polluters from cutting emissions at source. 

Finally, the adoption of a review clause linked to technological advances and evolving challenges and opportunities for the EU’s global competitiveness is detrimental for long-term climate action. Instead of providing a predictable pathway for investors and industries, it creates uncertainty through a moving target, with constant potential revisions. 

WWF calls on the European Parliament and Member States to preserve the new offset safeguards in the upcoming trilogue negotiations.