Announcing on air (Radio France Inter) his surprise decision to resign on Tuesday 28 August, French minister for Ecological Transition in Solidarity Nicolas Hulot claimed among other disappointments that the climate policy being implemented was not up to the scale of the problem. He said he felt all alone in the government when it comes to the ability to take action but did not attack the government he had just left, saying that responsibility was "collective and societal" and France did more than other counties when it comes to the climate.
"Are small steps enough to halt, reverse and even adapt, since we have rushed into climate tragedy? The answer is no", he said, adding "Have we started to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? The answer is no."
Hulot said that "at a time when the planet is heating up like a pressure cooker, it deserves that we change scale, that we change paradigm. A policy of small steps is not enough anymore."
Asked the same day to react to his statement, the European Commission refused to comment on the minister’s resignation or the Paris Climate Agreement.
"If you have questions about our policy on climate change, we remind you of the range of actions we have taken", said a spokeswoman for the institution. Does the Commission feel that the EU's action is ambitious and coherent? "We defend the body and soul of the Paris Agreement", she replied.
On behalf of European Commissioner for Climate Action Miguel Arias Cañete, his spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen added "We have a detailed climate policy that was strengthened in 2014 by the European Council. In March of this year, the European Council asked for a long-term strategy for reducing emissions. We launched a consultation in July (see EUROPE 12065, 12049). The results will be presented to you in due time."
Angela Merkel does not want any more ambitious climate target at this time. In a television interview on Sunday 26 August on Germany's ARD, the German chancellor Angela Merkel, said she wanted her government’s efforts to focus on achieving the EU objective set for 2030 (reducing emissions by at least 40% on the 1990 level), sweeping aside the idea of increasing the target.
"First and foremost, we should respect our objectives, which we have all subscribed to. I do not feel it is reasonable to keep on setting new objectives."
At the European Parliament, MEP Jo Leinen (S&D) had called a few days earlier for a European reduction target of 45% by 2030, as envisaged by Commissioner Cañete, hoping to sound out the Environment Council of 9 October on the matter (see EUROPE 12078).
"In international climate action, the European Union should set the pace and raise its climate target for 2030 ahead of the next UN climate summit (COP24) in Katowice" (in December) said the MEP in a press release. Fourteen EU environment or energy ministers take the same line (see EUROPE 12048). At least 45% is the figure that the EU could demand when implementing the international political agreements reached energy efficiency and renewable energy targets for 2030 (see EUROPE 12045). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)