In Strasbourg on Tuesday 3 July, the European Parliament suggested (by 488 votes to 113, with 72 abstentions) that EU climate diplomacy capacities should be strengthened in order to promote climate action globally, help with the implementation of the Paris climate agreement and prevent climate change-related conflict.
With one exception only, the non-legislative resolution fully adopts the draft jointly prepared by the co-rapporteurs Arne Lietz and Jo Leinen (both S&D, Germany) (see EUROPE 12045).
Parliament calls on the EU to assume a leading role and to speak with one single, unified voice in the Talanoa Dialogue and at COP24 in December. It calls on the EU to build as wide an alliance as possible of countries ready to ramp up their climate targets and to lead by example with a more ambitious 2030 collective target. The EU should, it says, present a long-term net-zero carbon strategy for 2050 at COP24. Parliament also wants the EU’s post-2020 budget to reflect the importance of stronger climate diplomacy, with at least 30% of spending being devoted to climate action.
Removal of reference to possible climate refugee status. The only amendment approved (amendment signed by 81 EPP MEPs) gave satisfaction to the EPP Group which wanted a paragraph of the resolution which spoke of “climate refugees” to be voted on in its entirety and all reference removed to the notion of climate refugees, on which the initial text advocated a UN definition.
Parliament underlines that climate change exacerbates the conditions leading to migration in vulnerable areas and says that future migration will increase if the negative impact of climate change is not adequately managed. With this amendment, which was only narrowly adopted (326 votes to 319, with 23 abstentions), it calls on the EU to “to support the launch of discussions at UN level with a view to delivering a tangible response to the movement of people that is expected to occur as a result of climate change, and highlights that any international response should focus on regional solutions in order to prevent unnecessary large-scale movements”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)