This evening in Brussels, Miguel Arias Cañete, Commissioner-designate for Climate Action and Energy, faced tough questions from Members of the European Parliament, about his commitment to climate action and the low-carbon transformation of our energy system.
“Whatever the legal judgement, Cañete will never get rid of his image of being linked to the fossil fuel industry. We need a Climate Commissioner from a government with a more progressive record on climate action. One who shows more commitment to the urgency of climate change than Commissioner-designate Cañete has shown tonight,” said Wendel Trio, Director of CAN Europe.
“If Juncker is serious about tackling climate change then he needs to appoint a Commissioner prepared to fight for increased climate ambition, who will challenge Member States to go beyond what they are currently prepared to do. He also needs a Vice-President that treats energy and climate action equally,” added Trio.
“We need all Commissioners to integrate climate change into their portfolios, in particular all those who are part of the climate and energy project team. Which strangely enough is not the case right now,” concluded Wendel Trio, Director of CAN Europe.
We are just one year away from the Climate Summit in Paris, where the world is expected to adopt a new legal global agreement on climate action. The world is looking at Europe to determine the level of ambition with which the negotiations are approached. The scientific evidence is clear, the impacts of current inadequate policies will be devastating, not only for poor people across the globe, but also for the people of Europe. The new European Commission has a clear role to play in setting the bar as high as possible on climate action.
Contact:
Wendel Trio, Director of CAN Europe, wendel@caneurope.org, +32.473.17.08.87
Matthew Keys, Communications Coordinator at CAN Europe, matthew@caneurope.org, +32 497 700 372
