Conservative leaders need to halt their ‘dramatic roll back of climate action’, following data that indicates that 2024 was the warmest year on record in Europe, the European Green Party has said.
The European Greens were commenting following the publication of the latest European State of the Climate report by the Copernicus Climate Change Service and the World Meteorological Organization, which indicated that 413,000 Europeans were affected by storms and floods last year, with some 42,000 people affected by wildfires.
Close to a third of Europe’s river network exceeded high flood thresholds, the data indicated.
Despite these warnings, political forces on the centre right and far right, led by the European People’s Party (EPP) are seeking to dismantle the EU Green Deal, the Greens noted, in what amounts to ‘a dangerous deregulation drive’.
Immediate threats
“From the farmers with parched fields to the people flooded out of their homes, people are already dealing with the immediate effects of the climate emergency,” commented Ciarán Cuffe, co-chair of the European Green Party. “They are not distant threats — they are here, now.”
The former Irish environment minister added that over the past few years, the EU has “turned the Green Deal from vision into action”, adding that EPP and far right politicians are looking to reverse course.
“Under the guise of ‘deregulation’ and ‘simplification’, they are kicking the can down the road,” Cuffe added. “By delaying solutions urgently needed to protect people from extreme weather, they are failing to protect people — today and for future generations.”
‘Not the time to backtrack’
Vula Tsetsi, co-chair of the European Green Party, added that if climate action is undertaken effectively, it can bring a myriad of benefits , including cleaner air, lower energy bills, quality housing, and good jobs.
“We can see the renewable energy revolution already spreading across Europe — this report confirms that wind and sun energy already generated 45% of Europe’s electricity,” she commented. “We have seen huge strides forward in the last decade — now is not the time to backtrack. Now is the time to move forward with strong climate policy in Europe.” Read more here.
