EU News: Brussels booms as £ 11million private jet budget destroys new green pledge | World | New
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According to Politico’s Mari Eccles, the EU is replacing its current private jet policy of € 10.71 million between 2016 and 2021, with a significantly higher sum for the next four years. The new budget for private air travel will be allocated to the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council and the External Action Service.
Ms Eccles wrote: ‘Even as the bloc pledges to cut emissions to meet its climate targets, Brussels has increased the amount it plans to spend on air taxi flights for civil servants to 13.5 million. euros, according to a document on the EU Tenders Database.
“The new four-year contract – which will cover flights for the European Commission, Parliament, Council and the External Action Service – replaces the existing five-year agreement which set the maximum value at € 10.71 million that can be spent on private jets between 2016 and 2021.
The staggering figure comes as the bloc pledged to cut emissions to meet climate change targets.
Just last month, the European Commission released a broad set of climate policies that included binding targets for countries to restore and grow forests, peatlands and other natural “carbon sinks” that suck CO2 from the earth. ‘atmosphere.
EU news: Brussels increases its budget for private jet travel (Image: GETTY)
The European Union’s massive policy package to deliver on its pledge to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by 55% from 1990 levels by 2030 has drawn opposition from climate activists and even within the executive of the European Commission.
Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg questioned the level of ambition.
“Unless the EU rips up its new Fitfor55 package, the world will have no chance of staying below 1.5 ° C of global warming. That’s not an opinion, once you include the full picture, it’s a scientific fact. MindTheGap between words and action, “she tweeted.
Greenpeace was another high profile dissident.
“Celebrating these policies is like a high jumper claiming a medal for running under the bar,” said group EU director Jorgo Riss.
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Green politicians in the European Parliament, who had pushed for a 60% reduction in emissions by 2030, welcomed the proposals but identified opportunities for improvement.
Some policies have proposed time horizons of several years, which activists and green politicians consider too long.
“Despite all the hype, many policies will not come into effect for 10 years or more, such as the new dirty cars still being sold until 2035,” Greenpeace’s Riss said.
Combustion engines are also a scarecrow for the Verts / ALE group in the European Parliament, which has called for their sale to end by 2030.
The inclusion of biomass, produced from the combustion of pellets or wood chips, in its energy plans, has also been a source of division.
“Others (other policies) will actually fuel the fire, like labeling tree burning as renewable energy,” Riss added.
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EU news: Council of the EU will also benefit from new budget for private jets (Image: GETTY)
On Monday, a new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said global warming of around 1.1 degrees Celsius had caused many changes in different regions, from more severe droughts and storms to the rising seas.
These will all increase with warming, but it is not too late to reduce global warming emissions in order to keep the temperature rise at the internationally agreed targets of “well below” 2C and ideally 1. 5C – which would help stop or slow down some of the impacts. , according to the report.
UN officials have said that the IPCC has increasingly sounded the alarm bells in its regular reports over the past three decades, but this has not elicited adequate political responses.
“The world listened but didn’t hear; the world listened but it didn’t act hard enough – and therefore climate change is a problem that exists now,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the Program. of the United Nations for the environment.
“No one is safe and it is getting worse faster,” she told reporters when launching the report online.
IPCC Chairman Hoesung Lee said the report offered a better understanding of climate change and how it is already manifesting around the world.
“This tells us that there is no question that human activities are causing climate change and making extreme weather events more frequent and severe,” he said, describing it as a “valuable toolbox. “for negotiators during the COP26 climate talks in November.
All regions of the world are affected, he added, noting that the report contains detailed information on impacts by region, as well as rapidly developing knowledge on attributing extreme weather events to climate change.
