In the draft concept for the European Green Deal leaked to the media yesterday, the new European Commission pledges to propose an increase of the EU 2030 climate target, but only in October 2020, which is far too late. This would mean that the EU would miss the Paris Agreement deadline for increasing targets in 2020.
In the Paris Agreement, all countries committed to submit new increased 2030 climate targets to the UN by 2020. The EU should adopt a new, substantially higher target in the first half of 2020, to be able to play a leadership role and encourage other big emitters to follow suit.
For this to happen, the European Commission needs to publish a proposal to increase the target within its first 100 days in office. It needs to include a target of 65% emission cuts, which is in line with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement.
Wendel Trio, director of Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe said:
“The Commission’s reluctance to propose a new, much higher target early next year shows its failure to recognise the urgency of the climate crisis. Delaying this decision can put the EU in the back seat of global climate negotiations and undermine its role in shaping the discussions on the increase of the targets next year. It would be a blow to millions of Europeans that take to the streets demanding immediate action to tackle the climate crisis.”
ENDS
Contact
Ania Drazkiewicz, CAN Europe Head of Communications, ania@caneurope.org, +32 494 525 738
CAN Europe COP25 media advisory here
Photo story ‘Faces of the Climate Fight” portaying climate activists here
Print quality images can be downloaded from here
Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe is Europe’s leading NGO coalition fighting dangerous climate change. With over 160 member organisations from 35 European countries, representing over 1.700 NGOs and more than 47 million citizens, CAN Europe promotes sustainable climate, energy and development policies throughout Europe.
