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  • 25-01-2021 18:35

CORRECTION: EU/Presidency: Environment minister wants new EU climate law during Portugal's Council presidency (UPDATED)

CORRECTION: EU/Presidency: Environment minister wants new EU climate law during Portugals Council presidency (UPDATED)

(NEW VERSION WITH CORRECTION IN THE FIRST PARAGRAPH TO DELETE REFERENCE TO PORTUGAL, WHICH CHAIRS THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND NOT THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL)

Lisbon, Jan. 25, 2021 (Lusa) – Portugal's environment minister on Monday challenged the European Parliament to engage in negotiations with the European Council to pass a climate law before the end of the semester.

"It is unimaginable that Europe is not the first continent to commit to carbon neutrality," said João Pedro Matos Fernandes in a virtual hearing with the European Parliament's Environment Committee, assuming there are differences on how to get there even within the European Council.

"Those who think that if we don't succeed, the Council is to blame. It's all our fault. We all have to do a job to meet what European citizens are clearly asking of us", the Portuguese minister argued, addressing MEPs who questioned him on how the Portuguese presidency intends to act.

He said that, even within the European Union, "there are still divergent positions" on issues such as the "carbon budget", i.e. the limit on emissions that each country and the Union as a whole has to meet the target of carbon neutrality, defined by the European Commission as 2050, and limiting global warming.

"I can assure you that we will do our utmost to have a climate law by the end of this semester, but do not address the issue as if it were just my own or the Council's," he said, stressing that a negotiation only goes well when each side defines well what it has to give, not just what it wants from the other side.

The minister hoped that Parliament "has also defined what it has to give in this process", with a view to passing a climate law by the end of the Portuguese EU Council presidency.

He noted that in relation to the efforts to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050 and achieve a 55% reduction in emissions by 2030, "it is essential that we make the path together," noting that "those who are further away are also those who have done less" in the decarbonisation of the economy and the search for an energy transition to "clean" sources.

"It is really good that each country has a very serious commitment not to wait for the country next door to make up for its emissions," he said.

He stressed that "the Council's proposal is not an obligation for each country, but an obligation for all member states" in reducing emissions.

Asked about the appointment of a "climate ambassador" for Europe, like former US Secretary of State John Kerry, appointed by President Joe Biden's new administration, he said the EU "does not feel the need" for such a figure because "it does not have to explain anything to the world" in terms of climate ambition.

APN/AYLS // AYLS

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