After two weeks of negotiations, the 25th UN climate conference (COP25) in Madrid has ended today without an agreement on binding rules for the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement. The next climate summit will take place in Glasgow, in November 2020, where countries are supposed to present their plans for achieving the Paris targets.
Agreeing on a target is important but only half the battle. What counts now is how the EU and Member States will work to achieve the targets. The long term budget is a litmus test for how serious they are.
The Green Deal has serious shortcomings when it comes to agricultural funds and trade policy and these need to be addressed for a truly ambitious climate policy. The Green Deal needs clear and binding measures that limit global warming to 1.5c, herald the phase-out of fossil fuels, and protect biodiversity.
Greens/EFA priorities for the plenary week included the votes on climate emergency and the Climate Summit in Madrid (COP25), the new European Commission, the votes on the 2020 Budget, public country-by-country reporting, combatting gender-based violence, and an EP Mission to Malta following recent revelations around the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
The European Parliament today voted to declare a climate and environmental emergency in Europe.
There were calls for the EU to take the necessary action in cutting greenhouse gasses in order to achieve climate neutrality.
The European Parliament resolution was supported by SNP MEP Aileen McLeo...
The EU must commit to a range of goals including: Achieving climate neutrality by 2040, a 65% reduction in emissions by 2030, and to put the environment and biodiversity at the centre of the EU's agricultural policy to halt biodiversity loss
The EU-Mercosur free trade agreement, due to be voted by the European Parliament during this mandate, will be discussed in detail with researchers, experts and civil society. The event is open to all and will be livestreamed on the day
A Group of MEPs among which the Greens/EFA tabled an amendment for the resolution ahead of the UN Climate Conference COP25 to ask for the declaration of climate emergency on a European level. The European Parliament should not only officially declare climate emergency, but also agree on a number of concrete measures to make the declaration tangible.
The European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission agreed on a green EU budget for the year 2020. The climate budget is finally becoming real under pressure from the Greens/EFA and the European Parliament. The ambitious fight against youth unemployment threatened to fail because of national egotisms in the Council. Yet, in the end, the European Parliament prevailed.
EU Member States and the Commission agreed to a new energy lending policy for the European Investment Bank. It is a good step in the right direction and a milestone on the road to ending investments for fossil fuels altogether. The EIB needs to become the climate bank of Europe but we're not quite there yet.