12 October 2026 18:04 UTC · European Commission · EU Commission Press Release · Read original source ↗ · Email X Link

Wopke Hoekstra Reports on Environment Council and COP31 Preparations

Key points

Wopke Hoekstra states that the Environment Council discussed the Emissions Trading System review and preparations for COP31.

TL;DR

Wopke Hoekstra reports significant support for the Emissions Trading System review and its architecture during the Environment Council.

Original text

European Commission - Speech [Check Against Delivery] Press remarks by Commissioner Hoekstra following the Environment (ENVI) Council Luxembourg, 12 October 2026 Ladies and gentlemen, First of all, let me thank the two ministers and the Irish Presidency for the work today. This was a testament to our commitment on climate action and the environment. Many things were discussed today but let me focus on two main elements on the agenda in the domain of climate action. First, we had a very good and extensive conversation on the Emissions Trading System review. There is significant support for the overall architecture, for the overall logic of reciprocity of the system and for making sure we turn the ETS into an investment engine. That is the name of the game to bring climate, competitiveness and independence ever more hand in hand. That was the first discussion. The second one was on COP31. Thanks to the Presidency, I am convinced we reached very helpful conclusions that will pave the way to COP31. At the heart of that is continued ambition on mitigation, particularly on clean electrification. This will also be the name of the game at COP. My experience last week at pre-COP is that this is a theme pushed by the Presidencies and by many constituents. I am very glad this was at the heart of the conversation today. A message we need to convey is that this really is a COP about implementation. We pretty much know what we need to do on climate. We know what needs to be done, and in many cases, we already have delivered it. An implementation COP should focus on clean electrification. And we are ready to have a conversation on making sure that the finance that was committed lands at the right places. And let me close on this, science needs to underpin everything we do in this domain. I'll pause there. Thank you. SPEECH/26/2145 <@rel_link@> Press contacts: Anna-Kaisa ITKONEN (+32 2 295 75 01) Ana CRESPO PARRONDO (+32 2 298 13 25) General public inquiries: Europe Direct by phone 00 800 67 89 10 11 or by email

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