Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our time. While the Covid-19 crisis is currently capturing our attention, the glaciers in Greenland are melting away. One million tons of ice per minute!
We are experiencing severe periods of drought on the African continent and long heat waves in Europe, as we did not know them to this extent until a few years ago. The increasing frequency of floods and storms are also consequences of climate change. Let alone the impact on entire ecosystems, fauna, oceans and biodiversity. The atmosphere is not in good condition in terms of CO2-concentration and therefore we need more ambitious goals than orginally set. We have a responsibility to next generations, but we also have a responsibility to the countries that are already most affected by climate change but that are least responsible for it.
With today’s vote on European climate law in the European Parliament, we have set an important example in the fight against climate change and I am very pleased that my colleague form the SOCIALISTS AND DEMOCRATS GROUP, Jytte Guteland, rapporteur of the European Climate Law, has brought this file forward in terms of social and climate policy.
The European Green Deal aims to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. This means that by 2050 the EU wants to have achieved the goal of reducing its net greenhouse gas emissions to zero. This goal of climate neutrality is anchored in law in the European climate law, and thus the European climate law is a cornerstone of the European Green Deal.
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