What changed between the resolution motion and the adopted text

– having regard to the UN’s Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030,

– having regard to the 2023 report of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) of the Midterm Review of the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030,

– having regard to the UNDRR 2023 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction,

– having regard to the World Health Organization (WHO) report of 20 December 2023 on Climate Change and Health,

– having regard to its resolution of 15 June 2023 on a European Day for the victims of the global climate crisis,

– having regard to the Joint Research Centre report of 7 June 2023 entitled ‘Impacts of climate change on defence-related critical energy infrastructure’,

– having regard to the Strategic Compass for Security and Defence approved by the Council on 21 March 2022,

– having regard to the Climate Change and Defence Roadmap of the European External Action Service (EEAS) of November 2020,

– having regard to its resolution of 7 June 2022 on the EEAS’s Climate Change and Defence Roadmap,

– having regard to the conclusions adopted at the 66th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women on 25 March 2022, entitled ‘Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes’,

– having regard to the report of the Special Rapporteur of 26 July 2022 on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change,

– having regard to UN Human Rights Resolution 41/21 of 12 July 2019 entitled ‘Human Rights and Climate Change’,

– having regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989, and to general comment No. 26 of 22 August 2023 from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on children’s rights and the environment with a special focus on climate change,

– having regard to the EU strategy on the rights of the child of 2021,

– having regard to the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples of 1 November 2017 on the impacts of climate change and climate finance on indigenous peoples’ rights and to the Stockholm +50 Indigenous Peoples Declaration,

– having regard to the second report of the UNFCCC of 29 January 2024 on the determination of needs of developing country Parties related to implementing the Convention and the Paris Agreement,

– having regard to the outcomes of the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact of June 2023,

– having regard to the G20 Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative,

– having regard to European Court of Auditors special reports 04/2023 of 15 February 2023 entitled ‘The Global Climate Change Alliance(+) – Achievements fell short of ambitions’ and 18/2023 of 26 June 2023 entitled ‘EU climate and energy targets – 2020 targets achieved, but little indication that actions to reach the 2030 targets will be sufficient’,

– having regard to the Council conclusions of 17 October 2023 on the preparations for the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the UNFCCC (Dubai, 30 November – 12 December 2023),

– having regard to the Council conclusions of 14 October 2024 on preparations for the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the UNFCCC (Baku, 11-22 November 2024),

– having regard to the Council conclusions of 8 October 2024 on climate finance in view of the 2024 UN Climate Change Conference, COP29, on 11-22 November 2024,

– having regard to the questions to the Commission and to the Council on the 2024 UN Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan (COP29) (O-0010/2024 – B10-0104/2024 and O-0009/2024 – B10-0105/2024),

– having regard to Rules 142(5) and 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the motion for a resolution of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety,

A. whereas the European Parliament has declared a climate and environmental emergency and has committed to urgently fight and contain this threat;

B. whereas the Paris Agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016; whereas to date, 193 states plus the EU have joined the agreement, representing over 98 % of global emissions;

C. whereas, according to UNEP’s 2023 emissions gap report, fully implementing unconditional NDCs made under the Paris Agreement for 2030 would put the world on course to limit the temperature rise to 2.9 °C this century; whereas fully implementing conditional NDCs would lower the temperature rise to 2.5 °C;

J. whereas the community GHG database of the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) shows that in 2023, the largest emerging economies, such as China, India and Brazil increased their emissions, while all sectors in the EU27 experienced a decrease in their GHG emissions compared to 2022;

K. whereas the first global stocktake (GST) completed in 2023 at COP28 underlined the urgent need to address the interlinked global crises of climate change and biodiversity loss in the broader context of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the vital importance, for sustainable climate action, of protecting, conserving, restoring and sustainably using nature and ecosystems;

L. whereas water is a fundamental resource for human life, economic activities including agriculture, and ecosystems; whereas water-related challenges, including water pollution and water scarcity, are increasing; whereas water is a primary medium through which climate change impacts societies and ecosystems, and vice versa, including through droughts, floods, water scarcity and changing precipitation patterns that become stronger and occur more often; whereas this exacerbates the impact of climate change and the risks it poses to biodiversity, ecosystem resilience, agriculture, food and energy security, and basic human needs, while threatening hard-won development gains and the green transition as well as human rights and peace; whereas 1.42 billion people live in areas of high or extremely high water vulnerability; whereas climate-resilient water and sanitation management is a fundamental part of climate change mitigation and adaptation; whereas the multiple ecosystem services provided by water should be ensured, inter alia through water planning, management, investment in water-related innovation, including energy and water efficiency, reuse, and restoration and protection of freshwater ecosystems; whereas water management has strong links to other policies, which calls for policy coherence and for action to be taken at the scale of whole river basins, deploying nature-based solutions;

M. whereas soils are the largest terrestrial carbon pool and ensuring healthy soils strengthens resilience and reduces vulnerability to climate change;

N. whereas forests play an essential role in climate change adaptation and mitigation; whereas the halting of deforestation, the stepping up of forest protection, afforestation and reforestation, and responsible sourcing are among the key mitigation actions;

O. whereas the effects of heat may be exacerbated in cities, home to more than half of the global population, due to the urban heat island effect; whereas heatwaves lead to soaring energy use, reduced labour productivity and increased health risks, leading to a rise in heatwave deaths; whereas natural solutions, the incorporation of green infrastructure and the installation of natural shading contribute to reducing temperatures in cities;

P. whereas the IPCC sixth assessment report and the scientific advice of the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change for the determination of an EU-wide 2040 climate target and a greenhouse gas budget for 2030-2050 clearly state that achieving the climate targets under the Paris Agreement and reaching net zero GHG emissions primarily requires deep, rapid and sustained reductions in CO2, methane, and other GHG emissions, as well as both land-based and technological carbon removals at scale;

Q. whereas only 14 countries have endorsed the fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty, none of which is an EU Member State;

R. whereas according to the IEA report entitled Tripling Renewable Capacity Pledge: Tracking countries’ ambitions’, commitments for renewable energy deployment by 2030 included in the NDCs would only lead to the achievement of 12 % of the tripling renewable energy objective;

S. whereas the ocean is the planet’s greatest carbon sink and absorbs excess heat and energy released from rising greenhouse gas emissions; whereas marine biodiversity is seriously endangered, despite the ocean playing a unique and vital role as a climate regulator; whereas the degradation of marine ecosystems such as coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass beds weakens the ocean’s ability to sequester carbon and adapt to climate change, exacerbating climate impacts;

T. whereas methane has been responsible for around 30% of the rise in global temperatures since the industrial revolution; whereas rapid and sustained reductions in methane emissions are crucial to limiting near-term global warming;

V. whereas the OECD’s seventh assessment of progress towards the UNFCCC climate finance goal found that in 2022, developed countries provided a total of USD 115.9 billion in climate finance for developing countries, a figure still well below the actual needs;

W. whereas the UNFCCC’s first report on the determination of the needs of developing country Parties states that national reports submitted by developing country Parties demonstrate that the costs to meet their needs related to implementing the Framework Convention and the Paris Agreement cumulatively amount to USD 5.8-5.9 trillion up to 2030;

X. whereas the UNEP’s 2023 adaptation gap report highlights that the current adaptation finance gap is estimated at USD 194 billion to USD 366 billion per year, a gap that will increase as climate impacts intensify;

Y. whereas the current climate finance goal of USD 100 billion per year until 2025 is financed by Parties classified as industrialised when the UNFCCC was signed in 1992; whereas this classification no longer adequately reflects the countries’ respective financial capabilities and their cumulative historical emissions, which have substantially evolved since then;

Z. whereas making global financial flows consistent with a pathway towards a net zero and climate resilient economy is an essential goal for the green transition in accordance with Article 2 of the Paris Agreement;

AA. whereas the first EU Climate Risk Assessment Report (EUCRA) found that some climate risks in Europe are already at critical levels now, while many other risks may reach critical or even catastrophic levels during this century, causing damage to the competitiveness of economies and companies, the geopolitical landscape, the workforce and social cohesion; whereas the EUCRA report recommends mainstreaming current and future climate risks in virtually all policy areas, with action both at EU and national levels;

AB. whereas the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change highlights the need to urgently and fully phase out harmful fossil fuel subsidies across the EU; whereas the 8th EAP requires setting a deadline for the phasing out of fossil fuel subsidies consistent with the ambition of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C; whereas the European Environment Agency’s 2023 monitoring report on progress towards the 8th EAP’s objectives highlights that most Member States do not have concrete plans for how and by when they intend to phase out fossil fuel subsidies; whereas this is critical to accelerating the transition to renewable energy, ensuring a fair allocation of resources and meeting the EU’s climate targets under the Paris Agreement;

AC. whereas there are scientifically proven interlinkages between health and the environmental and climate crises; whereas the most vulnerable populations are disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change, facing greater risks of food and water insecurity, health threats, displacement and loss of livelihood;

AD. whereas Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine not only grossly violates international law and is causing massive loss of life and harm to citizens, but is also delaying much-needed action on climate change and leading to immediate and long-term environmental degradation;

AE. whereas climate change is increasingly becoming a major driver of migration and displacement, with millions of people forced to flee their homes due to rising sea levels, extreme weather events, droughts and resource scarcity; whereas by 2050, as many as 216 million people could be internal climate migrants across the regions of Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific and Eastern Europe;

The global stocktake and COP29 in Baku

1. Welcomes the outcome of the first GST at COP28, which recognises that pathways limiting global warming to 1.5 °C with no or limited overshoot and to 2°C requires a peaking of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 and that limiting global warming to 1.5 °C with no or limited overshoot requires deep, rapid and sustained reductions in global GHG emissions of 43 % by 2030 and 60 % by 2035 relative to the 2019 level, reaching net zero GHG emissions by 2050;

2. Welcomes the key commitments and actions announced by the EU at COP28 to substantially scale up global climate ambition; urges all Parties to follow up through ambitious implementation and the scaling up of nationally determined action; underlines the particular responsibility of all major emitters and the G20 countries to take the lead; stresses that a collective effort and further actions from all countries are required, especially from all major and emerging economies; calls for the EU and like-minded partners to work with all parties to secure a successful outcome at COP29;

3. Supports the COP28 call on the Parties to the UNFCCC to contribute to the global effort towards tripling renewable energy capacity globally and doubling the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030; urges all Parties to adopt concrete targets and policies to achieve these goals and to reflect them in their NDCs; underlines the importance of the EU and Member States playing a leading role by accelerating deployment and enhancing investment in renewable energy infrastructure and by promoting innovation in energy storage technologies;