Today, CAN Europe, has applied to the European General Court to intervene in the People’s Climate Case - a case in which families and youth have challenged the EU in order to protect their fundamental rights from the insufficiency of the EU's 2030 greenhouse gas emission reduction target. Through this intervention, CAN Europe aims to increase the pressure on the EU to live up to its Paris Agreement responsibilities.
During a General Affairs Council meeting today, EU ministers exchanged their views on the long term EU budget for the period 2021-2027. While they focussed on the size of future EU funding in view of traditional policies such as the Common Agricultural Policy and Cohesion Policy and of new priorities like migration, they missed out to address current flaws to ensure a fully climate-friendly budget for the EU.
Reacting to the State of the European Union speech given by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker today, Wendel Trio, Director of Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe said:
Tomorrow’s State of the European Union address is a perfect opportunity for European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to reveal the progress so far in the development of the new EU long-term climate strategy. Stating his support for reducing emissions to net zero at the latest by 2050 and keeping temperature rise to 1.5C would be an appropriate and timely response to the unprecedented heat waves and forest fires that we have witnessed over the summer and the multiple calls from non-state actors, Member States and the European Parliament to scale up the EU’s climate action.
Ahead of the next trilogue on the Electricity Market Design on 11 September, France, UK, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Ireland and Poland have just issued joint comments on the new rules regarding capacity mechanisms, which stand in stark contradiction to their commitment to fully implement the Paris Agreement.
In May 2018 families from Portugal, Germany, France, Italy, Romania, Kenya, Fiji and the Swedish Saami Youth Association Sáminuorra sued the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union for the inadequate climate target for 2030. The lawsuit claims that the Union’s climate target fails to protect their human rights.
In a statement released today the EU and China reaffirm their unequivocal commitment to the implementation of the Paris Agreement and establish a closer partnership on climate action and the clean energy transition.
MEDIA ADVISORY
The Polish grid operator PSE conducted the general certification procedure earlier this week, thereby prequalifying electricity producers for capacity mechanism payments. The certification is an obligatory first step and conclusions sum up how much and what kind of capacities can take part in the bidding process for the first capacity payments within the Polish capacity market for the period 2021-2023. Whilst this certification does not spell out electricity producing technologies which will benefit, it does sum up eligible quantities for the payments and indicates proportions between different technologies.
Member States gathering yesterday at the European Council discussed the next Multiannual Financial Framework, which sets out EU’s spending priorities after 2020. While they committed to reach a deal as soon as possible, they remained silent on how to make the long term EU budget fit for the Paris Agreement.
Environment Ministers of Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom meeting in Luxembourg today have called upon the EU to make significant further efforts to fight climate change, over and above the already taken commitments.
Ania Drążkiewicz
Head of Communications
ania /at/ caneurope.org
Work: +32 2894 4675
Mobile: +32 494 525 738
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
