Quick ratification of EU climate pledge meaningless without policy ambition | WPN World People News

The European Commission published its proposal for the EU’s ratification of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. WWF welcomes this proposal, but reiterates the call for increased climate ambition at EU level to live up to the commitments made in Paris.

"Speed is essential in the fight against climate change so early ratification of the Paris Agreement is crucial. Yet ratification without increasing EU policy ambition to reflect the Agreement's content is like trying to climb a mountain in flip flops. It puts Europe at risk of suffering even more from the impacts of climate change in future," said Imke Lübbeke, Head of Climate and Energy at WWF European Policy Office.

"Implementing the Paris Agreement means ensuring its goals - keeping global temperature rise well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to keep it under 1.5°C - are reflected in stronger, more ambitious EU climate and energy policy.

Yet so far, the Commission has failed to provide the tools needed to begin to scale the mountain.

The 2030 climate and energy targets must be made more ambitious and ratcheted up every five years as is written in the Paris Agreement. The ETS must be meaningfully reformed; the Effort-Sharing Decision strengthened, and a 2050 strategy developed that aims to truly decarbonise Europe's economies.

These are essential steps in order to uphold the commitments made in Paris and support Europe's transition to a fair and just economy based on 100% renewable energy."

Source: EUbusiness