Environmental groups call on Merz, Macron to back EU 2040 climate target ahead of Franco-German summit
Clean Energy Wire / Reuters
Environmental protection organisations from Germany and France are calling on their heads of state to support an ambitious EU climate target for 2040 ahead of a Franco-German summit this week. In an open letter, the German Climate Alliance, the environmental umbrella organisation Deutscher Naturschutzring (DNR), and the French climate network Réseau Action Climat France (RAC), appealed to chancellor Friedrich Merz and president Emmanuel Macron to clearly commit to the 2040 emissions reduction target of minus 90 percent, proposed by the European Commission, before the next UN Climate Change Conference. Merz and Macron are meeting in Toulon, France, on 28 and 29 August.
“Given the increasingly uncertain global political situation and the increasingly noticeable effects of global warming – especially in Europe – the EU's foreign policy capacity to act on global climate policy is more important than ever,” the signatories state. “It is therefore crucial that Germany and France, as Europe's largest economies, speak with one voice.” The EU must achieve emissions reductions of at least 90 percent within Europe – instead of shifting them abroad – in order to achieve “a successful and cost-effective transition to a sustainable economy”, they argue. “Every euro invested in the EU strengthens the economy, industry, and people on the path to climate neutrality by 2050 and makes Europe more competitive against countries like China.”
While the proposed 2040 target is seen as a waypoint between the goal of reducing net emissions by 55 percent by 2030 and achieving climate neutrality by 2050, concerns have grown that political pressure led the European Commission to water down the goal by including flexibilities, like international carbon credits. German environment minister Carsten Schneider has nevertheless said the climate target faces major challenges, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe.
In Toulon, Merz and Macron are also expected to discuss the issue of nuclear energy. Merz’s government has reportedly signalled greater openness to nuclear power and is no longer objecting to treating it on par with renewable energy in EU legislation, Reuters reported in May.
