Parliament calls for more ambition in green transition

Today, a majority of MEPs have voted in favour of a cross-party resolution on the European Green Deal, initiated by the Greens/EFA group. The Greens/EFA group have succeeded in including demands for more biodiversity protection, more climate financing and a more social approach to tackling the climate crisis.
 
Bas Eickhout MEP, Vice-Chair of the Environment Committee and Greens/EFA negotiator on the resolution, comments:
 
"The Green Deal must be the engine for the green transition and today's vote pushes the Commission to be more ambitious. The Commission's Green Deal communication has been a good starting point for the discussion, but we need much higher standards on climate and biodiversity protection and social justice."
 
"The European Parliament has, thanks to our pressure, backed calls for stronger and binding sustainability rules in European trade policy, a complete phase out of free emissions allowances for the aviation sector, a re-assessment of the proposed reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy, and that more public financing will be needed to achieve the objectives of the Green Deal."
 
"The European Parliament is also clear that a real Green Deal needs to encompass much more than only climate and environmental protection, it must be a tool for a true social transformation that tackles inequality. The Green Deal will only succeed if the EU and its Member States ensure that the economic system leads to equal opportunities and adequate social security for all, rather than greater wealth for the few."
 
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The European Commission's proposal for the Green Deal does not yet include the Common Agricultural Policy. Payments from the Just Transition Fund must be linked to binding dates for the phasing out of coal.