In Athens, southern European countries pledge to implement the Paris Agreement
EU leaders at the plenary session of the 8th MED7 Mediterranean Summit in Athens, Greece, September 17, 2021. REUTERS - COSTAS BALTAS
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
Two months before the COP26 in Glasgow, the countries of southern Europe reiterated this Friday in Athens "
their firm commitment
" to implement the 2015 Paris Agreement, aimed at limiting the temperature to 1.5 ° C. maximum warming over the next few years.
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At the initiative of Athens, French President Emmanuel Macron, Spanish Prime Ministers Pedro Sanchez and Italian Prime Ministers Mario Draghi signed, with their counterparts from Cyprus, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia and Portugal, a declaration "
to achieve an ambitious result at COP26
”to be held in November in Scotland. “
Now more than ever, it is necessary to tackle the intensifying climate and environmental crisis
,” urged the nine Mediterranean countries in a joint statement.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who chaired the summit, recalled that “
the devastating fires of this summer which hit Greece, Italy and Cyprus, have spared no Mediterranean country, while the North of the Europe was hit by
destructive floods
”. "
While the danger is common, our defense must be too,
" he urged.
But six weeks before the climate conference, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that a report released on Friday, assessing the national commitments of 191 countries, "
showed the world is on a catastrophic path to +2 , 7 ° C warming
”.
Under
the Paris Agreement
, each country was to review its “nationally determined contribution” by the end of 2020.
But as of July 30, only 113 countries, representing less than half of global greenhouse gas emissions (49%), had actually submitted their revised commitments.
Accelerate efforts
In their joint declaration, the nine European leaders also reaffirm their "
commitment to achieve climate neutrality by 2050
" in Europe. Present in Athens, the President of the European Council Charles Michel considered that it was "
the only solution
". The summer fires are “
the trigger to accelerate our efforts and tackle climate change,
” said Mario Draghi. Pedro Sanchez insisted on “
preparing
” “
territories to avoid natural disasters
”.
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, who came to Athens, also calls for solutions.
"
We all see that climate change heavily affects the Mediterranean region and we must find solutions,
" she said.
"
We are committed to strengthening the European civil protection mechanism
," said President Macron, who welcomed "
European solidarity
" on forest fires.
► To read also: The countries of the South worried about their coming to Glasgow for the COP26
Stressing the vulnerability of the Mediterranean to climate change, the nine Mediterranean countries are concerned about “
economic impacts
” and call on their international partners, “
in particular those of the G20 to ratify the Paris Agreement
”.
They also promised to strengthen their cross-border collaboration for the protection of biodiversity and to increase investments allowing better management of forests in the Mediterranean.
(With
AFP
)
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European Union
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