Greta Thunberg, September 4, 2020 in front of the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm.
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Fredrik Sandberg / AP / SIPA
On the eve of a summit in Brussels, Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg on Wednesday asked European leaders, and Emmanuel Macron in particular, to "do as much as possible" to improve the new target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. greenhouse by 2030.
In an interview with AFP, the 17-year-old girl called on the French president to "take responsibility" in the fight against climate change and to keep his "promise" to be at the forefront on the subject.
The EU must set a goal of reducing its greenhouse gases for 2030 by January and will have to overcome formidable challenges to apply it, a thorny issue on the menu Thursday of the summit of the Twenty-Seven.
“Nothing that has been proposed or pushed is in line with what science tells us,” said the Swedish leader of the “Fridays for Future” movement in a remote interview, in which the young activist also participated. German Luisa Neubauer from Berlin.
"No magic number"
The European Commission proposed in mid-September to aim for a 55% reduction in EU greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, against a target currently set at -40%, in order to achieve “carbon neutrality” in 2050. The European Parliament has called for a reduction of at least 60%.
"We ask them to do as much as possible, to do whatever they can," Greta Thunberg told AFP, while refusing to suggest a goal because "there is no magic number or date. magical ".
The young Swede called for “putting in place annual and binding carbon budgets that apply now, not just in 2030 and 2050”.
Heads of State and Government will address the subject on Thursday at their meeting, also devoted to Brexit, but should not decide before their next meeting on December 10 and 11.
Europe divided
Germany, which holds the rotating EU presidency, aims for unanimity among member states.
However, the reluctance of several Eastern European countries - including Poland, which is very dependent on coal and which refuses to promise its carbon neutrality by 2050 - complicates the situation.
"We could probably spend the day discussing who is blocking, but at the moment there is no leader in Europe pushing on this subject," lamented Luisa Neubauer.
"Some are better and do more than others", but "no one acts at a level even close to what is necessary", bid Greta Thunberg.
The two activists both called on Emmanuel Macron to invest more, judging that "the words and the actions do not correspond".
“He has an incredible opportunity and a responsibility to take.
If people like him do not take it, if even countries like France do not take this responsibility, how can we expect countries like China and India to keep their commitments?
", Pleaded" Greta ", the initiator in 2018 of the youth strike movement for the climate.
The young girl, who took an unusual partisan stance on Saturday by calling on Americans to vote for Democrat Joe Biden in the US presidential election in early November, justified her choice to try to beat incumbent President Donald Trump.
“When it comes to Trump, I think it goes beyond politics, it's a matter of basic human rights,” argued the high school student.
"Of course Joe Biden is far from doing enough," but with Trump, "there are limits," she said.
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