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Belgium and seven other EU member states are scheduled to propose stronger climate targets for enabling CO2 emissions to be cut completely by 2050, at Thursday’s informal European summit in Sibu, Romania, according to a working document obtained by the German news agency, DPA.
The proposal, based on an initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron, is supported by the three Benelux countries, Denmark, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. It aims to transform the fight against climate change into the cornerstone of the strategic programme that the EU needs to have for the next five years (2019-2024).
Member States would also commit to increasing their national contributions under the Paris Accord by 2020. However, a big name is missing from the proposal: Germany.
A French Government source said there was still hope that Germany would sign on to it. For its part, Greenpeace has sharply criticised Bonn’s caution, accusing it of trying to shirk its responsibilities even as “thousands of young people demonstrate for our future”.
Oscar Schneider
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