Dear President/Prime Minister/Chancellor,
We understand you will be discussing the regrettable withdrawal by the US federal administration from the Paris Agreement.
Climate Action Network Europe very much welcomed the EU’s reaction to this decision and the expression of its clear support to the full implementation of the Paris Agreement. We similarly welcomed the strong support of so many other major carbon emitters as well as the determination of hundreds of US States, cities and companies to implement the US pledge to the Paris Agreement.
We fully support the EU and its Member States to take a strong leadership role in furthering the objectives of the Paris Agreement. And for us, with leadership comes responsibility. As Hilda Heine, President of the Marshall Islands explained in the European Parliament last Wednesday, the full implementation of the Paris Agreement also means that, as agreed in Paris, the current 2030 pledges need to be revised and updated, to bring them in line with the commitment to keep temperature rise well below 2°C, and the desire to limit warming even to 1.5°C. The United Nations Environment Program calculated that to do so, 2030 targets would need to be reduced by at least another 25%.
We therefore strongly call upon you to include in your messages before, during or after the upcoming European Council, that you fully endorse the concept that the full implementation of the Paris Agreement includes a willingness to align the EU’s 2030 target with the long-term objectives of the Agreement.
Kind regards,
Wendel Trio
CAN Europe Director
