On the eve of the informal European Summit in Sibiu on 9 May, dedicated to the future of the EU (see EUROPE 12247/1), eight Member States - France, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden - have stated that the European Union should make the fight against climate change “a cornerstone of the European Strategic Agenda 2019-2024” and take the lead in raising ambitions on global climate action.
This would be for the benefit of the climate, but also the European economy, according to a joint 'non paper' note prepared by this coalition and leaked in the press.
To support their assertion, these countries, which have long been a coalition of the “most ambitious” in support of the climate, invoke the urgency highlighted by the latest IPCC Special Report. According to the report, only urgent and ambitious climate action will make it possible to achieve the objective of limiting global average warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
But the eight countries also insist on the opportunities that a socially just transition to climate neutrality would offer "for economic growth, employment, quality of life, public health and biodiversity”.
“The transition towards a net-zero emission economy will provide an important opportunity for our companies to lead a modernisation and transformation of Europe's economy and become global leaders in low and zero emission technologies and services”, they stress.
Climate neutrality by at least 2050. These eight governments believe that the EU should have an ambitious long-term strategy by 2020 to achieve zero net emissions by 2050 at the latest (a requirement in line with the expectations of the current European Parliament). The EU should announce this objective at the UN Climate Action Summit, convened for 23 September in New York by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in an attempt to raise the level of global ambition.
Last March, the European Council spoke out in favour of a future long-term strategy for the climate neutrality of the European economy, but it did not mention the 2050 horizon for achieving this objective, to the great displeasure of the 'Coalition of the most ambitious'. However, the Heads of State or Government had agreed to return to the subject in June (see EUROPE 12220/4).
Raise the 2030 target. The eight countries also want the Union to commit to strengthening its contribution to the Paris Agreement (nationally determined contribution or NDC) by 2020, “with a view to driving up increased global ambition”.
It should be recalled that this contribution concerns a reduction of at least 40% in EU greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, but could, according to the European Commission, reach 45% if all legislation in the Energy/Climate framework is fully implemented.
At least 25% of the spend in the future budget for the climate To help ensure the EU's successful transition to climate neutrality, the eight countries want the multiannual financial framework 2021-2027, currently being negotiated, to allocate at least 25% of expenditure to climate change projects. And the EU should refrain from funding any policy that would undermine this objective.
The NGO CAN Europe welcomed this note, considering that it is compatible with the Call to Action for Climate Change, signed the day before by a very broad coalition of European territorial and civil society players (see EUROPE 12249/13).
To view the informal note in English: http://bit.ly/2WtxOrb. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)