The day after the close of the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) (see EUROPE 13313/16), MEPs heard statements on the summit’s conclusions from the Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, and the Spanish Secretary of State for European Affairs, Pascual Navarro, in Strasbourg on Thursday 14 December.
While they both welcomed the advances established by the final agreement - Mr Navarro even going so far as to describe it as an “historic step” - it was above all the European leadership that was hailed. “Europe has shown its unity and its ability to forge alliances (...) throughout the process”, said the representative of the Spanish Presidency of the Council.
“The important elements in the agreement championed by the European Union have been taken into account in the global inventory”, said Ms Dalli.
MEP María Spyráki (EPP, Greek) agreed, calling it a “Made in Europe” agreement. “The European Union is at the forefront of the fight against climate change, and we are fulfilling all the commitments we made at the COP”, she stressed, before putting the commitments made in Dubai into perspective with the objectives set by MEPs in their resolution adopted on 21 November (see EUROPE 13297/5). “Let me remind you that (...) we supported not only the tripling of renewables and the doubling of energy efficiency, but also the phasing out of fossil fuels as quickly as possible”.
For his part, the vice-chairman of the parliamentary delegation to COP28, Mohammed Chahim (S&D, Dutch), who also thanked the European Union negotiators, the Spanish Minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, and the European Commissioner for Climate Action, Wopke Hoekstra, nevertheless warned: “We have finally got this transition away from fossil fuels down on paper. Young people will remember this and they remind us that we cannot put off our efforts any longer”.
He continued: “I think that during this summit, in addition to all the lobbyists from the energy sector, young people should have been invited”. And with good reason: COP28 saw a record number of lobbyists from the oil sector. Up to 2,400 interest representatives from this sector were present, according to the NGO coalition CAN Europe (see EUROPE 13313/16).
Jutta Paulus MEP (Greens/EFA, German), who acknowledged that “Team Europe were working right to the very end”, also called for concrete efforts. “We have to do our bit, i.e. fully implement the Green Deal, all the directives that have been adopted. As a Parliament, we must remind our Member States and the Commission that it is important to act”, she hammered home in Strasbourg. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)