Climate protection should not be a footnote

On the 9th May, heads of states and governments of the European Union Member States will meet in Sibiu to discuss the future of the EU. They are due to agree to a 10 point declaration on the future of Europe.

Ska Keller, President of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament and lead candidate of the European Greens for the European elections, comments:

"It is striking that in the draft version of the Sibiu declaration, "climate change" is the very last word at the very end of the document. It seems that the heads of states and governments still haven't understood the urgency of the situation. Not only are they ignoring the thousands of young people who are on the streets every week demanding climate action, they are putting all of our futures at risk. Climate protection should not be a footnote for the European Union, but it should be in the centre of all European politics. The European Union needs to step up its ambition and lead by example for an ambitious, global climate action plan.

"The commitment to the Paris Agreement doesn't mean anything if governments don't start taking climate protection seriously. We have to increase our climate targets for 2030, we have to stop subsidies for fossil fuels and we need to make polluters pay, including aviation and maritime transport. The solutions are there, but the political will is missing. The heads of state and governments should take this summit as a chance to finally commit to climate action."

Philippe Lamberts, President of the Greens/EFA group, adds:

"In a Europe where one in four EU citizens is at risk of social exclusion or poverty, nobody needs this kind of summits. We need politicians that have the courage to the bring real change for Europe. We want to see a decent minimum income in all EU Member States, we want a workable unemployment insurance scheme on European level and we want a fair taxation system. On all these important points, the Council is blocking progress. It would be much more effective for European citizens if the heads of states and governments would agree on these projects instead of signing empty declarations."

Here you can find the Greens/EFA priority measures to save the climate: https://www.greens-efa.eu/en/article/press/id-10-priority-measures-to-save-the-climate/

Please find the Greens/EFA proposals for a Social Europe here: https://www.greens-efa.eu/en/article/document/greens-efa-demands-for-a-social-union/