The Climate Threat Global Challenges

EU Commission Proposes New Climate Goals: “Staying the Course”

As expected, the EU Commission has presented its proposal for a new climate goal for 2040, several media outlets report.

As expected, there will also be statutory requirements for member states to reduce their emissions by 90 percent. For the first time, countries will also be allowed to count climate investments abroad as their own emission reductions via so-called climate credits.

– We are sticking to the course for clean transition. We know why we are doing it – for economic, security and geopolitical reasons, says Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra, according to Reuters.

Swedish Society for Nature Conservation sees new climate goal: “Sad”

The EU Commission’s proposal for a new climate goal means a lowered level of ambition. This is what the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, which is consequently critical, writes in a press release.

There is much that is bad according to the association, but it particularly highlights the so-called flexibilities, including the possibility of allowing climate projects abroad to be counted as emission reductions.

– It is sad that Sweden has been one of the driving countries for the EU to open up to using international emission credits, says Karin Lexén, Director General of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation.

Expert critical of EU climate work abroad

According to the EU Commission's new proposal for climate goals, member states can invest part of their climate work in countries outside the union.

This is criticized by Naghmeh Nasiritousi, a researcher at Linköping University and the Swedish Institute for International Affairs. Previous such projects have proven to reduce emissions less than expected, she tells TT.

– There are often many steps when you pay others to reduce emissions, and it is also difficult to know whether those investments lead to increased emissions elsewhere.  

Europe's Heat Waves
At least eight dead in European heatwave on Tuesday

At least eight people died in the European heatwave on Tuesday alone, several media outlets report.

Among the victims is a two-year-old boy who was left in a car in the heat in northern Spain and two people who were found dead after a forest fire in Catalonia.

At least two people also died from the heat in France, Environment Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher announced. French media also report that a ten-year-old American tourist collapsed and died at the Palace of Versailles, but it is not yet confirmed whether that death is directly linked to the heat.

Two deaths are also reported from the Italian island of Sardinia, where two elderly men fell ill in the heat but their lives could not be saved.

- Extreme heat is testing our resilience and putting the health and lives of millions of people at risk, says Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, according to Reuters.

Air conditioning has broken down at EU headquarters

The European Parliament's air conditioning has stopped working in the middle of a European heatwave and at the same time as the European Commission presents its proposal for new climate targets. This is reported by Politico.

It concerns the Paul-Henri Spaak building in Brussels, where several party groups have their offices. The air conditioning is said to have broken down on Tuesday evening due to unusually high temperatures.

- I've heard that it's better on the fifth floor, where they don't believe in climate change, a spokesperson for the liberal Renew Europe told Politico.

The fifth floor is occupied by the conservative ECR group, which wants to see lower climate ambitions from the EU.

- I know they want to make us sweat over our political position, but this is absolutely ridiculous, says an ECR spokesperson.