According to the Environment Committee of the European Parliament, the European Union (EU) should commit to carbon neutrality by 2050 and strengthen its ambition for 2030 to reduce emissions.
Ahead of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change to be held in Madrid in December, MEPs from the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety committee adopted a resolution this Wednesday. The EU will present at the UN Climate Change Convention its long-term strategy to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. This would allow the EU to maintain its global leadership in the fight against climate change.
MEPs also highlighted the need for the EU to increase its level of ambition by 2030 to meet the 2050 targets. MEPs hope that the European Green Deal announced by Commission President-elect Ursula Von der Leyen will include a 55% emissions reduction target in 2030.
Likewise, the MEPs point out that the current ambition for air and maritime transport is insufficient in view of the necessary reductions and, therefore, believe that all countries should include the emissions of international air and maritime transport in their contribution projects at EU level.
They also consider that EU countries should at least double their contribution to the International Green Climate Fund. The MEPs stress that the Member States are the main public financiers for the fight against the climate crisis and that the EU budget must be fully in line with its international commitments. They also note that actual pledges from developed countries are still below the collective target of mobilizing $100 million a year from 2020.
Finally, they urge all EU countries to phase out all direct and indirect subsidies for fossil fuels by 2020 and call on the European Investment Bank to stop lending money to projects related to fossil fuels, except for gas when used in combination with renewable energies. According to MEPs, the global decisions to be made in the next ten years will have an impact on the future of humanity in the next 10,000 years.
The president of the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety commission, Pacal Cafin, has declared that "the Environment commission is the voice for Europe to be the first carbon-neutral continent in 2050. As the United States has confirmed this week its departure from the Paris Agreement, today we reaffirm that we want Europe to act very seriously to fight climate change.
The Environment Committee approved the draft resolution with 62 votes in favor, 11 against and 0 abstentions. The text will be submitted to a plenary vote of Parliament in the November II plenary session (November 25-28) in Strasbourg.
The European commission has already proposed a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, but the European Council has not yet approved it, and some countries oppose it. COP25 will be held in Madrid from 2 to 13 December 2019. A delegation from the European Parliament, led by Bas Eickhout (Greens/EPT, NL), will participate.
