Meeting in plenary session on Wednesday 26 October, the members of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted a resolution urging the EU institutions to strengthen their climate ambitions in view of the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), as well as involving civil society to a greater degree.
According to the EESC, the EU must “take the lead” on climate issues. The Committee is therefore urging the European Commission and Member States to update their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). These are non-binding national plans setting out the individual actions each party to the Paris Agreement plans to take in order to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The resolution also calls for the strengthening of the ‘European Green Deal’ to “achieve the objective of decarbonisation of the economy, further reduce external dependencies, ensure resilience and enhance a just transition”.
“As the home of European civil society, we need to press the European Commission and EU Member States to maintain their leadership role and convince our global partners to follow Europe’s example”, said EESC Vice-President for Communication Cillian Lohan.
Stressing the need to respect the objective of limiting average global warming to 1.5°C, which was set out in the Paris Agreement, the EESC believes that exceptional derogations from agreed climate targets “can only be granted for a limited time”. In particular, this provision refers indirectly to the decision of some Member States to reopen coal-fired power plants in response to the current energy crisis.
With regard to energy, the committee is of the opinion that the new geopolitical situation resulting Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine “reinforces the need for the EU to accelerate the reshaping of its energy and climate policy”. The resolution also calls for an immediate end to fossil fuel subsidies.
With regard to climate finance, the text calls for developed countries to increase their contribution, giving equal importance to financing climate change mitigation and adaptation measures in developing countries.
Strengthening the role of civil society
The resolution also emphasises the need for greater involvement of regions, rural actors, cities and civil society – employers, trade unions and NGOs – to ensure a just transition, drawing on the example of prosumers (consumers who produce their own energy).
In order to ensure these different messages are heard at COP27, which is to be held from 6 to 18 November in Sharm El-Sheikh (Egypt), the EESC will send a delegation of six members (Peter Schmidt, Isabel Caño Aguilar, Sandra Parthie, Josep Puxeu Rocamora, Neža Repanšek and Lutz Ribbe), who will also be accompanied by a youth representative (Sophia Wiegand).
To access the resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/3tq (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)