Yesterday, ministers from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Portugal and Luxembourg working on climate change called for a “strategy to consider raised levels of ambition of the EU and to present pathways, towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the Paris agreement”.
Commenting on the ministers’ statement, Imke Lübbeke, Head of Climate and Energy at WWF European Policy Office, said:
“EU countries are waking up to what the Paris Agreement means. France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Portugal and Luxembourg have realised that the EU’s climate targets are nowhere near what’s required. Others need to stop dragging their heels and get on board. The EU must aim for net zero emissions by 2050 at the latest. In this way it will act on a global emergency, gain credibility on climate, and reap the economic and social opportunities offered by our energy-efficiency and renewables-based future. ”
“Such action can bring another informal political coalition from Eastern European countries as Poland and Bulgaria for example are very active and doesn’t support ambitious climate and energy targets. It looks like Eastern countries are not seeing the potential of modern, sustainable economy development for our future when they try to block more ambitious European climate and energy goals. This is why a bottom up approach is very much needed and under the CEESEN platform we are trying to achieve exactly that”, added Georgi Stefanov, Climate Change and Green Economy Programme Manager at WWF Bulgaria.