The EU must meet its own standards and consistently implement the Green Deal
Vienna (OTS/SK) – The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) starts tomorrow, expectations are low. Günther Sidl, member of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee, also said: “I fear that this year’s World Climate Conference has already failed before it even starts. COP28 in Dubai will be led by Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. These two roles are simply incompatible, because I have no imagination about how one of the highest representatives of the oil lobby should organize the necessary global exit from fossil fuels. Media reports even suggested that the Sultan could abuse his role to broker oil and gas deals. This fundamental design flaw precludes any chance of successful international climate diplomacy, so we will have to wait until next year to make real progress. And after a year full of climate and temperature extremes, we see that we have almost no time left. The climate catastrophe is now.” ****
The EU Parliament set out its priorities for the climate conference in a resolution last week, SPÖ MEP Sidl explains: “We want to end all fossil subsidies by 2025, triple renewable energy capacity by 2030 and double energy efficiency. Furthermore, the loss and damage support fund must be adequately financed to cushion the effects of climate change that is already occurring. These are ambitious statements, but they are urgently needed. The EU must also live up to its own demands and not just lecture the rest of the world. There are currently huge problems with the implementation of the Green Deal. As soon as this becomes concrete, liberals and conservatives get scared and, together with the right, torpedo our ambitions in climate protection, most recently in the laws on renaturation and the limitation of pesticides. This has to stop! Let us use the World Climate Conference as an opportunity to put the implementation of the Green Deal and the EU’s goal of climate neutrality by 2050 out of dispute.” (Conclusion) ls
Questions and contact:
Jacob Flossman
Spokesperson for the SPÖ delegation in the European Parliament
+43 660 562 11 99
[email protected]