As youth engagement for climate change is in full swing and the campaign for the European elections is launched, MEPs and representatives of the Commission and the Council of the EU all had the climate emergency and the legitimate expectations of young people in mind on Wednesday 13 March in Strasbourg, during a priority debate on climate action, requested by the Greens/EFA group.
Beyond the big words, differences emerged on the question of raising the EU's 2030 target, with the European right preferring to stick to the offer on the table and deepen the vision of a climate-neutral European economy by 2050. The communication “A Clean Planet for All” was at the heart of the debate, which was attended, but not participated in, by sixty young people from the Youth4Climate movement from 20 countries. A non-binding resolution will be adopted on Thursday by the European Parliament (see EUROPE 12198/3) on the eve of a Europe-wide climate strike.
Melania-Gabriela Ciot, Romanian State Secretary for European Affairs, also said that the debate so far in the Council of the EU on the 2050 vision had highlighted the importance of developing a long-term European strategy in a holistic way and that the March European Council would provide political guidance and priorities for further discussion.
The European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Cañete, recalled that EU legislation should achieve a 45% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 (compared to 1990) and that the transition to a climate-neutral economy by 2050 is “not only possible, but opens up many economic opportunities”.
On behalf of the EPP Group, Germany's Peter Liese said that anchoring climate neutrality in EU policies is a good thing. "But in the Council of the EU, there are countries that do not want it", he added. "The EPP is not sure that an emissions reduction target of 55% by 2030 is a good thing", he said. According to him, "if we exaggerate, we risk providing arguments" to these recalcitrant countries. Stressing the importance of avoiding the relocation of European companies, he said his group wants "climate protection and employment".
"We are talking about actions to be taken now. If the climate had been a bank, it would have been saved by now. Young people want action. I haven't heard any young people say they want a 2050 vision", said Bas Eickhout, on behalf of the Greens/EFA. "Europe's future is green jobs. We need to talk about the green transition", he said, calling on the EU to launch massive investments such as California, India or China, to make agriculture greener and to equip itself with the infrastructure needed for clean transport. "It is the future of young people that we are talking about", added Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy (ALDE, Netherlands), pleading for a target of 55% by 2030.
"We are determined to orient our programmes towards sustainable development objectives", said Udo Bullmann on behalf of the S&D group, stressing the importance of committed regional and social policies. He believes that the youth climate movement has "become a social movement" in which MEPs should participate.
For a socially just transition, Jadwiga Wiśniewska (ECR, Poland) wants support for countries with an energy mix based on coal (80% of the Polish mix compared to 2% in France). "Young people know what energy exclusion is", she said.
Lynn Boylan (GUE/NGL, Ireland) recalled that we must stay below 1.5° of warming, "which requires unprecedented rapid change". According to Eleonora Evi (EFDD, Italy), "we are putting our planet in a water bath". According to her, Europe "has done nothing", since "the objectives are on paper and we are not succeeding in reducing the increase in temperatures". According to Joëlle Mélin (ENF, France), we must "stop saying that man is responsible for everything. We must catch up and reject the globalisation of water, air and soil”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)