Recent commitments to increase EU funds for climate action are at risk of being weakened, according to a leaked draft of the European Commission’s regulation on the European Regional Development Fund and on the Cohesion Fund (1).
Today the European Commission has published its proposal for the post-2020 EU budget, kicking off the political battle over the rules and priorities that will govern EU spending in the period 2021-2027. The Commission has chosen climate action to be one of the top priorities for future EU funding.
Ministers in charge of climate change of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Portugal and Luxembourg meeting in Paris today have called for ensuring that the EU’s climate policies are in line with the Paris Agreement. For that reason, they recognized the need to develop a long term EU climate strategy which will spell out how to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C.
Portugal wins gold in the 2018 European Fossil Fuel Subsidies Awards, the second edition of a unique contest organised by Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe. The winners are governments who waste taxpayers’ money on supporting dirty energy. Poland comes second and Spain third.
During a Council meeting on General Affairs today (1), EU ministers exchanged their views on the spending priorities of the Cohesion Policy after 2020, the EU’s key funding instrument for infrastructure projects all over Europe.
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At the upcoming Informal Environment Council on 10-11 April in Bulgaria, EU Ministers of Environment are expected to flesh out the bloc’s contribution to the UN Talanoa Dialogue - a Fijian word meaning an inclusive dialogue.
The Talanoa Dialogue is an important international conversation which aims to help countries increase their climate pledges to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Energy intensive industries in Europe, such as steel or cement companies, still pocket huge amounts of public money while doing too little to reduce emissions, a report entitled “European Fat Cats”* published by Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe today shows.
Brussels, 05 April 2018
Today, a broad group comprised of business associations, civil society, think tanks and other organisations have urged the President of the European Commission, through a joint open letter, to make the future EU budget fully compatible with the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development goals. On 2 May, the European Commission is due to publish its general proposal on the spending priorities of the next EU budget after 2020.
Today, EU leaders gathered at a European summit on sustainable finance. They recognised the important role the EU budget should play in tackling climate change and boosting the clean energy transition.
EU Heads of State and Government meeting in Brussels on 22-23 March have called upon the European Commission to urgently develop a draft of a new EU long-term climate strategy. The strategy needs to be ready by early 2019 and clearly lay out what the Paris Agreement commitments mean for the EU.
Nicolas Derobert
Communications Coordinator
nicolas /at/ caneurope.org
Work: +32 2894 4673
Mobile: +32 483 621 888
Stevan Vujasinović
Communications Coordinator for Southeast Europe
stevan /at/ caneurope.org
Mobile: +381 (0)63 390 218
Goksen Sahin
Communications Coordinator
goksen /at/ caneurope.org
Work: +32 2893 0827
Mobile: +32 468 453 920
