{"id":5601,"date":"2022-10-27T17:45:31","date_gmt":"2022-10-27T15:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greens-efa.eu\/opinions\/?p=5601"},"modified":"2022-11-10T16:32:09","modified_gmt":"2022-11-10T15:32:09","slug":"cop27-eu-climate-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greens-efa.eu\/opinions\/cop27-eu-climate-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe is on track for three degrees of global warming: COP27 is a wake-up call for the EU to do more"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If every country would follow the EU\u2019s ambition when it comes to tackling climate change the world would be steering towards three degrees of global warming<\/a> by the end of the century. Read here why the Greens\/EFA MEP Michael Bloss will be fighting for more EU climate action at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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Read the Greens\/EFA demands for the COP27 climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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\"Greens\/EFA<\/figure>
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The Greens\/EFA MEP Michael Bloss:<\/strong>
\u201cAt COP27 The EU needs to finally show real climate leadership to keep the 1.5 degree promise.”<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>

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COP27: Where is the EU\u2019s climate ambition?<\/h5>\n<\/div>
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I often get asked what a world 3 degrees hotter would look like. I am not a climate scientist, but I listen to the experts. They say our house is on fire. We face a future of droughts, floods, and fires that we are now already witnessing.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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This year, Europe experienced its worst drought in 500 years. Water levels in large rivers like the Rhine in Germany or the Po in Italy dropped so low that industrial output was threatened. The bed of the river Loire in France could be crossed by foot. Farmers had to choose which fields of crops to water and which ones to let die. Fires ripped through vast swathes of Europe, devastating communities and livelihoods. Our forests experienced a heat shock that will impact them for years to come. <\/p>\n<\/div>

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Not only nature was suffering. In 2022, the EU saw 53,000 excess deaths in July from heat waves<\/a>. This is the reality of a world just 1.2 degrees warmer. So what is the European Climate Commissioner Frans Timmermans doing about it? His claim that Europe is already doing enough against the climate crisis is not a good enough answer – and looking at the events this summer simply not true. In the weeks and days before the COP27 climate conference, Europe\u2019s global climate diplomacy to promote international climate action is non-existent.  <\/p>\n<\/div>

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EU climate action – where is our European Climate Commissioner?<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/div>
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Shortly before the 27th UN climate conference, there is no coordinated push to raise international climate ambition and stop us rocketing past 1.5 or even 2 degrees, and therefore breaching the Paris Agreement. In fact, Climate Commissioner Timmermans and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen did not even show up at the debate<\/a> on the COP27 in the European Parliament last month. The self-proclaimed champions of the Green Deal have fallen silent. They should be coordinating global initiatives to fulfil the Paris Agreement. Instead there is a full-blown conflict with the Global South on liability for climate loss and damages. But without the EU showing real climate leadership, how can we win the global fight against the climate crisis? <\/p>\n<\/div>

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While the EU denies its responsibilities and financial obligations to the Global South, the situation becomes even more absurd. EU money is readily available for new oil and gas pipelines in Hungary or Spain. But when it comes to ambitious climate policy and investing in renewables, the cheapest energy supply in the world, little is put on the table.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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We Europeans started the climate crisis and we are still fuelling it. And yet we continuously ignore our historical climate debt, invest in coal, oil and gas. The EU even subsidises fossil fuels in the European Union by an eye-watering \u20ac112 billion<\/a> per year.  <\/p>\n<\/div>

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Climate leadership at COP27 – the ideas are there, let’s act on them<\/strong><\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/div>
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A full-blown conflict with the Global South is a failure of climate leadership – and all eyes are on Europe. If Timmermans does not act, von der Leyen needs to step up. We have to foster a global coalition to stop the breach of the Paris Agreement. This requires the EU to increase its climate targets to 65 per cent emission reduction until 2030. It must say loud and clear what is already being implemented and thus put pressure on other industrialised countries to do the same. <\/p>\n<\/div>

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\n We need more climate action – for the Global South and for the planet.\n