Today at the COP24 climate summit in Katowice, Poland a coalition of countries, including the EU, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, committed to increase their climate targets by 2020. The commitment is a response to the findings of the landmark IPCC 1.5°C report.
Today Austria won the shameful Fossil of the Day Award from Climate Action Network (CAN) International. Austria was given this dubious award because it is failing as the president of the EU to end subsidies to coal power plants in the current EU electricity market negotiations, while the the bloc underperforms on climate finance for developing countries, which are at the forefront of the worsening impacts of climate change.
Commenting on the US delegation side event promoting coal at COP24 today, Joanna Flisowska from CAN Europe said:
The Climate Change Performance Index 2019 (CCPI), published today at the climate summit COP24 by Germanwatch, the NewClimate Institute and Climate Action Network (CAN) shows that three years after the adoption of the Paris Agreement, none of the 56 evaluated countries nor the EU are doing enough to achieve the temperature goals agreed in Paris. Countries must urgently increase their targets and scale up action to implement them.
As the first week of this year’s climate summit COP24 draws to a close, a unique gathering of businesses, investors, local authorities, trade unions and NGOs are calling upon EU Ministers arriving at the COP next week to commit to significantly increase the current EU climate commitments by 2020, in order to secure a successful outcome of the summit.
Updated on 8 December 2018, 1.30am: Just before Zanna was put on the train back to Vienna, the Polish government recognised its mistake and allowed her to enter Poland. At the moment, we dont have information about the other activists who have been denied entry and/or deported.
CAN Europe’s Climate Ambition Project Coordinator, Zanna Vanrenterghem has been denied entry to Poland to attend the UN climate summit COP24. During the last days, Polish authorities have denied entry and/or deported at least 13 members of civil society groups that were due to attend the COP24 climate talks.
Germany won the shameful Fossil of the Day Award from Climate Action Network (CAN) International today. Germany received this dubious award because it gave up on its national 2020 climate target, failed to quit coal and to support higher 2030 EU climate target, in spite of the alarming IPCC 1.5°C Report.
EU legislators have once again failed to agree on electricity market rules that would lead to zero-emissions energy systems. Instead, under the Austrian Presidency consent, some Member States are still trying to secure massive subsidies through so-called ‘Capacity mechanisms’ to polluting and uncompetitive coal-fired power plants.
At the end of a year that has seen an increase in climate-related litigation cases globally, plaintiffs, lawyers and campaigners representing six cases made clear at the UN climate talks in Katowice today that governments can no longer escape from their responsibility to protect the citizens from runaway climate change. In 2018, people around the world kept turning to the courts as politicians failed to deliver anything close to the necessary level of climate change mitigation – and courts increasingly order governments to deliver the urgent cuts in emissions necessary. Judging by the current rate at which these cases are being filed against governments, this is likely to only be tip of the (melting) iceberg in 2019.
To watch the press conference: https://unfccc-cop24.streamworld.de/webcast/climate-litigation-2018-how-courts-are-enforcing-e
The host of this year’s UN climate summit COP24, Poland won the shameful Fossil of the Day Award from Climate Action Network International today. The dubious award was handed down to Poland for promoting coal interests and turning a blind eye to the need to ramp up climate pledges by 2020.
Nicolas Derobert
Communications Coordinator
nicolas /at/ caneurope.org
Work: +32 2894 4673
Mobile: +32 483 621 888
Stevan Vujasinović
Communications Coordinator for Southeast Europe
stevan /at/ caneurope.org
Mobile: +381 (0)63 390 218
Goksen Sahin
Communications Coordinator
goksen /at/ caneurope.org
Work: +32 2893 0827
Mobile: +32 468 453 920
