By Kate Abnett
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Parliament on Thursday urged the EU to step up its diplomatic outreach to secure tougher commitments to fight climate change at the upcoming COP26 summit, and backed the bloc’s negotiating position for the talks.
The United Nations summit, which runs from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12 in Glasgow, Scotland, will aim to secure more ambitious targets from countries to cut the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change, and finish the “rulebook” to put the 2015 Paris Agreement into effect.
In a resolution adopted by 527 to 134 votes, Parliament urged the European Union to “step up its diplomatic outreach” and build bridges between rich and poor countries at COP26, a strategy it said had helped achieve ambitious outcomes at past climate negotiations.
Parliament urged all G20 rich nations to commit to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The EU has fixed that aim into law, and is negotiating a huge package of policies to slash emissions faster this decade.
“Europe is moving from words to actions and we want others to do the same,” said Portuguese lawmaker Lidia Pereira, adding that the EU’s own climate policies give it “good arguments” to ask others to be more ambitious.
One way to increase international action would be to form a club with other major emitters to coordinate policies including carbon border tariffs, Parliament said.
Parliament also backed the EU’s negotiating position, agreed by member states this month, to push at COP26 for rules that will require countries to set national climate targets every five years.
The United States and African countries also support that position and say a relatively short cycle would keep up pressure on countries to revise targets deemed too weak. Others, including China and India, oppose a fixed five-year cycle.
European lawmakers will join the EU delegation to COP26 but not participate in the formal negotiations. Parliament said its lawmakers should be included in EU coordination meetings at COP26, since it must approve international agreements the EU signs.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
