Green Party MEPs Ciarán Cuffe and Grace O’Sullivan have today expressed concern at the apparent lack of urgency and ambition in the the EU Commission’s Climate Law. The Climate Law is the cornerstone on which the European Green Deal is founded, as it will establish a pathway to Europe being the first carbon neutral continent by 2050. Today’s announcement, however, has failed to clarify some crucial legislative points upon which the success of the European Green Deal will depend.

Green Party MEP for Dublin Ciarán Cuffe said: “We had high expectations for Vice Commissioner Timmermans’ Climate Law today, and while we recognise that this is a seminal moment in setting Europe on the path to carbon neutrality, today’s proposal has fallen somewhat short of those expectations.

“The most disappointing aspect of the Climate Law presented today is that it locks us into more than a decade of low ambition on emissions reduction targets. The mechanism to allow the Commission to ramp up targets every five years will not come into effect until 2030. Now is a time for ambition and leadership. Europe must go to the crucial COP26 climate negotiations in Glasgow in November with a clear pathway to carbon neutrality, showing the rest of the world that this goal can and will be achieved. We need to take difficult but important decisions now, and kicking the can down the road to buy another decade of dangerous emissions levels is simply irresponsible."

Green Party MEP for Ireland South Grace O’Sullivan said: “It is disappointing not to see Ireland’s name on the letter from 12 Members States (Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden) asking for 2030 targets to be brought forward to June of this year. Although we currently have a caretaker government in place in Ireland, it is not acceptable to continue to take a back seat on climate action. We know that Ireland is on course to miss its 2030 targets. Supported by the EU Commission, Ireland needs to start playing an ambitious and constructive role, rather than resigning ourselves to paying huge fines for our inaction.

“We should be driving the conversation about how to urgently tackle the climate and biodiversity crises we are facing. I’m calling on Minister Richard Bruton to join with our 12 member state colleagues and insist that these vital 2030 targets are brought forward by June.

“Climate activist Greta Thunberg is visiting Parliament today. It would have been nice to greet her with news of more ambitious intentions in this Climate Law. Ciarán, myself and our Greens/EFA Group colleagues will continue to apply pressure to create more urgency and comprehensive international action around climate change.”