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The European Parliament has approved a resolution declaring the "climate and environmental emergency" in the EU with a large majority and calls on the member states and the European Commission to take measures to combat it.

With 429 votes in favor, 225 against and 19 abstentions, it has passed a resolution asking for urgent measures to "fight and contain the threat of climate change " before it is too late. " The decision comes just a few days before The UN Conference on climate change will take place next week in Madrid, known as COP25.

"We are meeting the expectations of European citizens," said French MEP Pascal Canfin. The former director general of the NGO WWF has stressed the importance of Europe being the first continent to declare the climate emergency and has done so just before COP25, also in view of Donald Trump's confirmation that the US will abandon the agreements Paris for the weather.

"We send a powerful message to citizens and the rest of the world," said the Frenchman. The German MEP of the Greens, Sven Giegold, agrees ". It is an important signal at the right time. These years are crucial for future generations," he said. But it is definitely that, a signal, a political gesture and little else. Because ultimately, the policies depend on the action of the Commission proposals, the member states and their ambition.

"You can not continue to make grandiloquent statements about the climate if you continue with the same old policies, " said the Spanish MEP Ernest Urtasun, who expects specific measures. "For example, the increase in the objective of reducing emissions in the EU to 65% in 2030, the abolition of any public financing for fossil fuels in the multiannual financial framework and a reform of the Common Agriculture Policy," he explained.

MEPs also ask the European executive to carry out a study of the environmental impact of each policy, of each measure, and of each budget proposal to ensure that they meet the objective of the Paris agreements to eliminate global warming to 1.5 ° C. That is, to make the fight against climate change a cross-cutting European policy.

The resolution moves forward with some controversy, due to the division among the conservatives of the European People's Party , for whom the declaration of a climatic emergency is not justified and asked to replace it with "urgency", as well as the discomfort among the group of the Greens, They consider the resolution unattractive.

Green pact for the weather

The decision comes just a few hours after the new Commission, led by Germany's Ursula von der Leyen, has been approved by Parliament. Von der Leyen announced on Wednesday that his first trip as president will be precisely next Monday at COP25 in Madrid, to give a speech on climate change.

Von der Leyen, who presented his work plan to the MEPs this week, has made the fight against climate change one of the flags of his program. Precisely one of the star measures on its agenda for the next five years is the launch of a 'European Green Pact.'

"We don't have a moment to lose in the fight against climate change," said Von der Leyen who described the problem as an "existential" issue for the EU and the rest of the world . Although the president of the Commission did not go into detail on how exactly her green plan will work, she did say that it is "a growth strategy that will help reduce emissions and create jobs at the same time."

"Climate change concerns us all. We have a duty to act and the power to lead," said Von der Leyen. The president of the Commission faces her first fire in just two weeks when the European Council will discuss whether to declare EU climate neutrality in 2050, which is still opposed by the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.

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