President Alexander Stubb travels to Belém, northern Brazil, on Wednesday to attend the United Nations COP30 climate summit. He is scheduled to stay in the country until Friday.
Stubb is to deliver Finland's national address at the Heads of State Summit on Thursday. He will also participate in thematic sessions on forests, oceans and energy, hosted by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Stubbs has several meetings scheduled during the conference, including bilateral talks with Lula.
The summit of heads of state precedes the actual negotiations at the climate conference, which are slated to run from 10 to 21 November. The Finnish delegation will be led by Minister for the Environment and Climate Sari Multala (NCP).
Multala: "This is the last moment"
On Wednesday, Multala continued negotiations with fellow European environment and climate ministers on the EU's official stance going into the Belém climate conference.
On Tuesday, the EU Environment Council met in Brussels to seek a common position on the EU's climate target for 2040 and the EU's new emission reduction commitment to the UN.
The European Commission was calling for a 90 percent emissions reduction target for 2040 compared to 1990 levels, and a cut of roughly 66–73 percent by 2035.
According to an Environment Ministry statement, Finland supports the 90-percent target for 2040, "provided that the principles guiding the Commission's further work sufficiently take into account uncertainties in the land use sector, technology neutrality, cost-effectiveness and technological sinks".
"I believe that the time is ripe for a common view," Multala said in the statement.
She said that the EU must present "a strong message…that we will continue with a consistent climate policy. This goes hand in hand with strengthening our competitiveness," she said. Multala added that this "is the last moment to decide on the EU's commitment".
Reuters: Ministers agree on watered-down commitment
Arriving at the meeting on Tuesday, Multala said that she was ready to negotiate all night, if needed, to reach a deal.
Reuters reported that EU climate ministers had struck a tentative deal on the 2040 target in the early hours of Wednesday after watering down the goal in last-minute negotiations. That was confirmed in a public vote later in the morning.
After more than 18 hours of negotiations, ministers gave their informal backing to a compromise to cut emissions by 90 percent, but with flexibilities to weaken this aim, EU diplomats said. The deal effectively weakens to 85 percent the emissions cuts required from European industries, allowing them to pay foreign countries to cut emissions on Europe's behalf to make up the rest, Reuters reports.
EU ministers reconvened later on Wednesday morning to formally approve the deal.
A handful of countries including Poland, Italy, the Czech Republic and Hungary opposed the plan, but not enough to block the agreement, which needed backing from at least 15 member states. The dilution of the target reflects a backlash against Europe's ambitious climate agenda, Reuters said.
The bloc has already cut emissions by 37 percent compared to 1990 levels.
10.56: Updated with final EU vote.
