Mid february the EU's foreign affairs ministers welcomed the Commission’s strategic long-term vision for a climate neutral Europe. Ministers also called for urgent and decisive action to strengthen the global response on climate change and restated the EU’s determination to lead the way on accelerated climate action on all fronts.
Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete said: “COP24 was a success for multilateralism, with the milestone agreement on common rules for all countries to put the Paris Agreement into practice. Now we should all move focus to accelerating the implementation of our commitments and raising ambition. I am particularly glad that EU foreign affairs chiefs have endorsed the Commission´s climate neutral strategy. This sends a strong signal to all global stakeholders on the need to urgently accelerate the move towards a climate-neutral economy."
The Foreign Affairs Council of 18 February stressed the urgency of raising global ambition to fight climate change, strengthening multilateralism, and the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement. They welcomed the outcome of the UN climate conference (COP24) held last December in Katowice, Poland, where countries adopted a set of rules and guidelines to make the global agreement work in practice.
In its conclusions, the Foreign Affairs Council stressed the severe implications that climate change poses to international security and stability, recognising that climate change acts as a threat multiplier and increasingly as a threat in its own right. The impacts will spare no country, and the poorest and most vulnerable will be the most affected.
The year 2019 will be a critical year for global action on climate change and sustainable development.
In July, the annual United Nations High Level Political Forum will provide impetus for countries to show progress on the implementation of the sustainable development goals, including goal 13 on climate action.
The EU also calls on all partners to join in making a substantive and positive contribution to the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit in September, which aims to mobilise the political will to raise global climate ambition and move towards a climate-neutral economy.
In this context, EU Foreign Affairs Ministers welcomed the European Commission’s strategic long-term vision for a climate-neutral Europe by 2050, published on 28 November 2018.
They also underlined the need for the EU’s international partners, in particular G20 economies, which account for some 80% of global emissions, to show leadership and come forward with their own ambitious long-term strategies in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
[This article originally appeared on ec.europa.eu/clima/news]
EU Climate Action News
Time has come to build a ‘climate coalition of the willing’
As we step into 2020, time has come to implement the Paris Agreement and raise climate ambition, but the geopolitical tide seems to be against it. The best way forward at this crucial juncture might be to forge a ‘climate coalition of the willing’ – recognising and streamlining actions of all actors at all levels.
For the first time in the survey’s 10-year outlook, the top five global risks in terms of likelihood are all environmental. They are: extreme weather events, failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation, major natural disasters, major biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, and human-made environmental damage and disasters.
Climate change and conflict could fuel hunger in 2020
Millions of people across Sub-Saharan Africa could face grave hunger in the first half of 2020 because of armed conflict, political instability and climate change-linked disasters, a report says.
The report published by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) this month says that the countries affected will require life-saving food assistance and investment to prevent humanitarian catastrophes.
Australia’s bushfires and climate change: A media analysis
Australia is currently experiencing one of its worst bushfire seasons, with swathes of the southern and eastern coastal regions having been ablaze for weeks. As the fires have spread, there has been extensive media coverage both nationally and internationally documenting – and debating – their impacts. This Carbon Brief overview summarises how the fires – and the political response to them – have been covered by the media.