German NGO welcomes Franco-German climate statement, calls for greater speed

NGO Germanwatch has welcomed the Franco-German statements on climate action after the two government cabinets met virtually on Monday (31 May), but called for greater speed of cooperation. “We are particularly pleased that both countries emphasise the need to limit the global temperature increase to a maximum of 1.5 degrees and want to cooperate further to this end,” said the organisation’s climate policy officer Audrey Mathieu. Now it is important to quickly make progress on specific issues and instruments, such as the reform of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), the introduction of a carbon price at the EU’s external borders and the sustainable finance taxonomy, she said. She also called for speeding up projects in the transport sector with the planned Paris-Berlin train connection to be introduced this year, instead of 2023. 

Ministers from both countries met for the 22nd Franco-German Council of Ministers to debate cooperation on a wide selection of issues, including the sustainable recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. In their declaration, France and Germany presented little news, but committed to existing plans, such as the ambitious implementation of the European Green Deal or the goal by industrialised countries to provide 100 billion euros in climate finance to poorer countries annually.