As the European Commission prepares a draft 2040 climate target under which member states could commit to reducing net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to just 10 % of 1990 levels, there are signs that governments are scrambling to meet the more modest existing targets set for the end this decade. The landmark European climate law commits the EU to a 55 % reduction by 2030 and full carbon neutrality by 2050, and requires the Commission to propose a transitional target for 2040 in the coming months. The European Scientific Advisory Committee on Climate Change, a body created on the basis of the same legislation, concluded last summer that reaching net zero will not be possible unless a reduction of 90-95 % is achieved by 2040. Since then, the EU's new climate commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra, has pledged to "advocate" for a 90 percent target by 2040, going so far as to promise MEPs during his October hearing that the EU executive would "look into" the radical policy situation. the possibility of suggesting "lifestyle changes, including dietary changes" as a means of achieving this goal. (Marta Pacheco and Robert Hodgson)