Commenting at the close of the EU council meeting where leaders agreed on a new EU 2030 climate target and discussed the EU’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Evelien van Roemburg, head of Oxfam’s EU advocacy office said:
Climate
“The new, more ambitious, EU 2030 target still falls short of what is needed and what is fair. The EU must take urgent practical steps to deliver above and beyond this target.
“It won’t be possible to deliver on the new climate target if governments don’t cut the emissions of the richest 10% of Europeans who are responsible for more than a quarter of EU emissions. We need a fair European Green Deal that tackles luxury carbon emissions and confronts inequality. This means ending subsidies for fossil fuels, introducing taxes on aviation fuel, and banning SUVs. Revenues should be invested in housing renovation and public transport that will deliver millions of jobs, clean air, and warm homes for everyone.”
Covid-19
“EU leaders’ talk of a ‘shared spirit of global solidarity to defeat the pandemic’ rings hollow given that they are actively blocking proposals at the World Trade Organisation that would force big pharma to waive their monopolies and patents on vaccines – a move that could boost vaccine production and end this pandemic faster. We need a People’s Vaccine, not a profit vaccine.”
Notes to editors
- Spokespeople are available in Brussels to comment on climate and vaccine inequality.
- EU leaders agreed on a new EU emissions target of ‘at least 55%’ below 1990 levels by 2030. This figure will be presented this weekend when global leaders meet virtually for the 12th Climate Ambition Summit. This summit marks the fifth anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement. Oxfam estimates that cuts of more than 65% are needed for Europe to contribute its fair share of the global reductions needed to get on track to limit global heating to the 1.5C goal of the Paris Agreement.
- Oxfam’s new report ‘Confronting Carbon Inequality in the European Union’ reveals that EU emission cuts have only been achieved among poorer Europeans while emissions of the richest 10% have grown. The report charts consumption emissions between 1990 and 2015 and shows how carbon inequality could derail European climate targets. Download the media briefing and report.
- Together with other nations, the EU has so far expressed its opposition to the WTO proposal to temporarily waiver certain intellectual Property rights. This would temporarily suspend the implementation, application and enforcement of certain intellectual property rights, such as patents, and boost the production and cut the price of COVID-19 vaccines.
- 9 out of 10 people in poor countries are set to miss out on #COVID19 vaccine, and wealthier nations have bought up enough doses to vaccinate their entire populations nearly three times over by the end of 2021. The call for a ‘People’s Vaccine’ is backed by past and present world leaders, health experts, faith leaders and economists.
- Oxfam is supporting the European Citizen’s Initiative: No profit on Pandemic, and is part of the Peoples’ Vaccine Alliance - a coalition of global and national organizations and activists united under a common aim of campaigning for a ‘People’s Vaccine.’
Contact information
Jade Tenwick | EU media assistant | jade.tenwick.@oxfam.org | desk +32 2 234 11 15 | mobile +32 473 562260
- Spokespeople are available in Brussels to comment on climate and vaccine inequality.
- EU leaders agreed on a new EU emissions target of ‘at least 55%’ below 1990 levels by 2030. This figure will be presented this weekend when global leaders meet virtually for the 12th Climate Ambition Summit. This summit marks the fifth anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement. Oxfam estimates that cuts of more than 65% are needed for Europe to contribute its fair share of the global reductions needed to get on track to limit global heating to the 1.5C goal of the Paris Agreement.
- Oxfam’s new report ‘Confronting Carbon Inequality in the European Union’ reveals that EU emission cuts have only been achieved among poorer Europeans while emissions of the richest 10% have grown. The report charts consumption emissions between 1990 and 2015 and shows how carbon inequality could derail European climate targets. Download the media briefing and report.
- Together with other nations, the EU has so far expressed its opposition to the WTO proposal to temporarily waiver certain intellectual Property rights. This would temporarily suspend the implementation, application and enforcement of certain intellectual property rights, such as patents, and boost the production and cut the price of COVID-19 vaccines.
- 9 out of 10 people in poor countries are set to miss out on #COVID19 vaccine, and wealthier nations have bought up enough doses to vaccinate their entire populations nearly three times over by the end of 2021. The call for a ‘People’s Vaccine’ is backed by past and present world leaders, health experts, faith leaders and economists.
- Oxfam is supporting the European Citizen’s Initiative: No profit on Pandemic, and is part of the Peoples’ Vaccine Alliance - a coalition of global and national organizations and activists united under a common aim of campaigning for a ‘People’s Vaccine.’
Jade Tenwick | EU media assistant | jade.tenwick.@oxfam.org | desk +32 2 234 11 15 | mobile +32 473 562260
