Two days before the European Council, the NGO CAN Europe is urging EU leaders to translate into reality the European Green Deal and the climate ambition of the President-elect of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, by financing this with the EU's 2021-2017 budget.
Not doing this, according to CAN Europe, makes no sense in view of the climate crisis, the massive demonstrations against governments' failure to tackle it and the great potential of the budget to direct future EU funds towards climate neutrality, particularly in less developed and more polluted EU regions and by ending subsidies for carbon-intensive infrastructure, the NGO stresses in a statement.
"The commission calling for a European Green Deal on the one hand and governments not committing to raise the climate ambition of the next EU budget on the other hand would be nonsensical. EU leaders must increase the share of the EU budget’s climate action spending to 40%, and ensure that this overall target trickles down to the various funds, regional funding in particular. Support for fossil fuels, in particular gas, is not compatible with a climate-proof EU budget”," comments Wendel Trio, Director of CAN Europe. The Commission, however, considers that gas has its place in the transition (see EUROPE 12344/1). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)