Today EU heads of state and government meeting at a European Council had a discussion on the timing, but less on the content of the next long-term EU budget.
In the context of COP24 in Katowice, all Member States must rapidly step up and agree on a budget that is fully in line with the Paris Agreement, with increased spending on climate action, efficient mechanisms to climate-proof expenditures across all funding programmes, and excluding support for fossil fuels.
Read more: Council urgently needs to agree on a climate-friendly EU budget
Today at the COP24 climate summit in Katowice, Poland a coalition of countries, including the EU, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, committed to increase their climate targets by 2020. The commitment is a response to the findings of the landmark IPCC 1.5°C report.
Commenting on the US delegation side event promoting coal at COP24 today, Joanna Flisowska from CAN Europe said:
Read more: US delegation at COP24 swimming against the tide on coal
Today Austria won the shameful Fossil of the Day Award from Climate Action Network (CAN) International. Austria was given this dubious award because it is failing as the president of the EU to end subsidies to coal power plants in the current EU electricity market negotiations, while the the bloc underperforms on climate finance for developing countries, which are at the forefront of the worsening impacts of climate change.
The Climate Change Performance Index 2019 (CCPI), published today at the climate summit COP24 by Germanwatch, the NewClimate Institute and Climate Action Network (CAN) shows that three years after the adoption of the Paris Agreement, none of the 56 evaluated countries nor the EU are doing enough to achieve the temperature goals agreed in Paris. Countries must urgently increase their targets and scale up action to implement them.
Read more: CCPI: European countries fail to take adequate climate action