EU Heads of State and Government meeting in Brussels on 22-23 March have called upon the European Commission to urgently develop a draft of a new EU long-term climate strategy. The strategy needs to be ready by early 2019 and clearly lay out what the Paris Agreement commitments mean for the EU.
In reaction to the Council conclusions, Wendel Trio, Director of Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe said:
“This is an important step that will set the wheels in motion for raising the EU’s climate target. The new strategy needs to outline what efforts the EU will pursue to keep temperature rise within the 1.5 degree limit set in the Paris Agreement. This will prove beyond doubt that the current climate target for 2030 is insufficient and trigger its review and increase.”
It is the first time since the Paris Agreement was struck that EU leaders call for concrete, practical measures to turn it into reality. The Paris Agreement requires all countries to develop pathways that are coherent with its long-term goals to keep climate change well below 2°C – and aim for no more than 1.5°C.
The strategy will lay foundations for the EU’s climate policy for decades. So far the European Commission has failed to announce the date of the publication.
ENDS
Contacts:
Wendel Trio, CAN Europe Director, wendel@caneurope.org, +32 473 170 887
Ania Drazkiewicz, CAN Europe Head of Communications, ania@caneurope.org, +32 494 525 738
Notes:
[1] European Council, 22-23 March 2018: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/european-council/2018/03/22-23/
Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe is Europe’s largest coalition working on climate and energy issues. With over 140 member organisations in more than 30 European countries – representing over 44 million citizens – CAN Europe works to prevent dangerous climate change and promote sustainable climate and energy policy in Europe.
