Sutt said if the government approves it at the cabinet meeting, he will take it to a government session, after which the Riigikogu could pass it before the elections in March 2027.

"We have a common understanding on this issue within the coalition, and I think that ideologically the legislating of such goals should also be acceptable to the Social Democrats," Sutt said.

The new law no longer contains sector-based emissions reduction targets, which Sutt said will remain in so-called roadmaps.

The new six-page draft contains a more general target – to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 9 percent by 2030 compared with 2022 emission levels, by 29 percent by 2035 and by 51 percent by 2040. In addition, the goal for climate neutrality is 2050.

How these goals are to be achieved is not specified, but Sutt referred to the roadmaps.

The law also instructs ministries to establish climate adaptation goals. Local governments will have to draw up their own energy and climate plans, which they must also update regularly.

A climate council will also be created by the law, and the state will be required to compile an annual national climate report. The state would also have to avoid investing in fossil fuels.

Sutt said the law would now provide certainty at the legislative level that Estonia is moving toward a cleaner and more competitive economy.

"Fewer smoking chimneys, lower-emission transport, clean energy – these are all pieces of the same puzzle, and we are carrying out these same activities anyway. Now we are simply reiterating the same principle at the legislative level, and that is good," he said.

The minister said this is not merely a declarative document. "There are very measurable goals there regarding how much we must reduce our emissions by 2030, 2035, 2040 and 2050," Sutt noted.

"Do the roadmaps answer every question in every detail? Certainly not, but they provide broader assurance as to how we will ultimately achieve these goals," he added.

According to the greenhouse gas inventory published in April this year, Estonia's 2024 greenhouse gas emissions had fallen by 18.8 percent in comparison to 2022. This means the 2030 target had already been hit.

Estonia's greenhouse gas emissions are expected to fall to 9.572 million tons by 2035, or 36 percent lower than in 2022, meaning that the target would also be met.

At the same time, the projected 51 percent reduction target for 2040 would not be met according to the forecast, nor would the climate neutrality target set for 2050.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Kristen Michal (Reform) said on Vikerraadio's "Stuudios on peaminister" that he believes the climate law will enter proceedings before summer and be passed in the fall.

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