Last week, the EPP celebrated securing a parliamentary committee majority to weaken EU car emissions rules, despite the devastating climate-related heatwaves and wildfires of last summer.
Ciarán Cuffe, Co-Chair of the European Green Party, said:
'With the US federal government once again absent from the climate negotiations, Europe must lead the global transition. The scientific reality has changed: the world is now expected to exceed 1.5°C. Our task is to limit how far and for how long we allow this to happen, and to bring temperatures back below 1.5°C by 2100. Europe must bring ambition to the conference table and not give in to those who wish to weaken or sabotage the COP process. The EU must step up investment in clean technologies, protecting nature, and building an economy fit for the future. That is what leadership looks like.'
Vula Tsetsi, Co-Chair of the European Green Party, said:
'The Commission is reviewing decades of nature protection, while the European People’s Party is cynically celebrating weaker climate rules, seemingly ignoring the victims of last summer’s heatwaves and wildfires. The European Union and its largest political family, the European People’s Party, must get their own house in order. It cannot claim to be a global leader on climate change while weakening the European Green Deal and rolling back its own commitments. Europe must lead by example, ending public subsidies for fossil fuels and building a coalition for a fossil-free future. This includes providing real financial support to countries on the front line of this crisis. COP31 must be a turning point: people and the planet must finally come before fossil-fuel profits. The time for political double standards is over.'
Background
The human cost is already stark. Research by Nature Health published in October estimated that more than 50,000 people died prematurely from the heat in 854 European cities during the summer of 2026, 32,619 of which were attributable to human-induced climate change.
The UN Environment Programme's Emissions Gap Report 2026 sets out the emissions cuts needed to limit the overshoot and return to 1.5°C by the end of the century.
Ciarán Cuffe, Co-Chair of the European Green Party, will attend the climate summit and the Peoples Climate Summit from 15 to 18 November to advocate for a clear transition away from fossil fuels, increased climate finance, and enhanced international collaboration.
