Eight European countries with ambitious strategy to tackle climate change

Eight European countries – France, Belgium, Denmark, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden – have called for an ambitious strategy to tackle climate change – and to spend a quarter of the entire EU budget on fighting it.

The joint statement says the EU should have net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 “at the latest”.

The group says their plan can “go hand in hand with prosperity” and “set an example for other countries to follow.”

The position paper comes ahead of a major summit of European leaders in Romania, beginning on Thursday, which will discuss the future of Europe and the EU’s strategy for the next five years.

But not everyone is on board – there are 28 countries in the EU, and several of those absent from the joint position statement are significant players – including Germany.

The position of the eight countries is that climate change has “profound implications for the future of humanity” and that its impacts are already apparent – citing “the heat waves and scorching fires of last summer”.

Via BBC