The European Commissioner for the Wopke Hoekstra climate said on Thursday that the European Union (EU) will continue to play a leading role in the climate and the fight against global warming, despite the fact that Member States are divided in their views on the common green policy. According to the AFP report, TASR reports this.
HOEKSTRA: The leading role we played in the past will continue
“Finally, we will be either the most ambitious or among the most ambitious ones,” Hoekstra told journalists at the EU environment meeting meeting, among other things, discussing the climate goal of the European Union for 2040.
At the beginning of July, the European Commission (EC) proposed a new Union’s climate goal for 2040, which envisages a reduction in emissions by 90 percent compared to the 1990 levels. This goal is a key step towards climate neutrality by 2050.
Some states consider a goal to be unrealistic
The EC has proposed some release of rules allowing the counting of carbon credits to finance projects outside Europe, but to convince countries such as the Czech Republic, Hungary or Slovakia. Some states consider the goal unrealistic.
Last week, Hoekstra said there was a “considerable likelihood” that the agreement was funded by the Ministers’ meeting on Thursday. However, several countries, including France, Italy, Germany and Poland last Friday, suggested that the matter before any decision to be discussed at the October Summit of the European Council.
Taraba already criticized Brussels in July that he lost contact with reality
The Slovak Republic is represented by Minister of the Environment Tomáš Taraba at Thursday’s meeting. He already announced in July that the Slovak Republic would not support the proposed goal, and Brussels criticized that he had lost contact with reality.
The postponement may endanger the plans of the EC to be approved by the target of 2040 before the UN Conference on Climate (COP30) in Brazil, which begins on November 10. Almost 200 countries involved in the Paris Agreement have to submit updated policies before COP30 to reduce emissions by 2035 and a detailed plan to achieve it.
