On Thursday 14 November, MEPs adopted a resolution proposed by the Environment Committee (ENVI) (see EUROPE 13509/3) by 429 votes to 183 with 24 abstentions. The resolution sets out recommendations and supports the European Union’s efforts at COP29 in Baku (Azerbaijan), which opened on Monday 11 November.
On Wednesday 13 November, a debate on the subject was held at the European Parliament in Brussels, in an atmosphere already tinged with criticism and controversy. On the same day, the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, attacked the Netherlands and France for maintaining overseas territories. In particular, he described the French authorities’ handling of the recent demonstrations in New Caledonia as “crimes” and “human rights violations”.
Following these remarks, the French Minister for Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, cancelled her trip to Baku, scheduled for next week, describing Mr Aliyev’s attacks as “unacceptable”.
On Thursday 14 November, the chief negotiator at COP29, Yalchin Rafiyev, tried to ease tensions, assuring that the COP Presidency was keeping the doors open “to all those who wish to take part in constructive and fruitful discussions”.
Absent leaders. In addition to this diplomatic debacle, MEPs were quick to point out during the plenary debate that few political leaders had turned up at the opening of the COP as part of the World Leaders Summit on Climate Action.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, the US President, Joe Biden, and the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, did not attend.
A number of MEPs, from both the left and the right, have highlighted the “loss of credibility” of international climate conferences in terms of concrete commitments and representation.
On this point, at the end of the debate, the European Commissioner responsible, Wopke Hoekstra, defended the spirit of cooperation during the COPs and explained that the absences of certain leaders were justified by legitimate national events. He also expressed the wish, before the MEPs, that the spirit of unity visible at the COP “could be more present here at home”.
Stability of the Paris Agreement. The election of Donald Trump in the United States has also figured prominently in the discussions surrounding COP29, raising fears that the country will disengage on climate issues and once again withdraw from the Paris Agreement (see EUROPE 13521/9).
On this point, Mr Hoekstra noted that the EU and the United States shared a common history and common values, as well as a “common future”.
“We have no choice but to commit, and that’s what the Commission and I will do”, he concluded.
However, concerns about the stability of the agreement intensified when Argentina, led by the climate sceptic Javier Milei, decided to withdraw its delegation from the negotiations on 13 November.
The chairman of the ENVI Committee, Antonio Decaro (S&D, Italian), said that if some European countries were tempted to take a similar path and call the Paris Agreement into question, it would be “a serious mistake”. “Europe can and must resist”, was his call.
To see the resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/ean (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)