Responding to the news that the EU will likely miss the deadline to present their updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) at next week’s UN Climate Summit, with time running out before COP30, the co-chairs of the European Green Party said:

“Last week, European Commission President von der Leyen said that ‘we must stay the course on our climate and environmental goals.’ But without action, these are empty words. If the lives lost, businesses and families devastated, and hectares of land destroyed are not convincing enough evidence to act, it also was revealed this week that the consequences of climate change cost the European Union an estimated €43 billion so far this year.  Yet, when world leaders meet next week to pledge how much they plan to reduce their emissions by 2035, embarrassingly, the EU will not be able to provide a clear answer. This puts our chances of having clear, ambitious targets by COP30 in Brazil at risk. Europe’s head is in the sand while our continent is in flames” said Vula Tsetsi, Co-Chair of the European Green Party.

Ciarán Cuffe, Co-Chair of the European Green Party added: “After a summer filled with floods, fires and deadly heatwaves, it is obvious that addressing the climate emergency has never been more urgent. But, ten years after the Paris agreement, EU governments’ inability to agree on an ambitious target is causing unnecessary delays, which are costly in both human and economic terms. Europe can’t afford to go from climate trailblazer to climate bystander. Europe cannot leave the most affected developing countries and island states to deal with the repercussions of our inadequate targets, just as the EU  cannot show up at these talks empty-handed.”

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