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Balance climate ambition with recovery efforts so that East can meet West
(EurActiv, 8 Jul 2021) The Visegrad capital cities can help lead the region towards meeting the EU’s climate ambitions and in halting a growing East/West divide, write Matúš Vallo, Gergely Karácsony, Zdeněk Hřib and Rafał Trzaskowski.
Matúš Vallo is mayor of Bratislava, Gergely Karácsony, mayor of Budapest, Zdeněk Hřib, mayor of Prague and Rafał Trzaskowski mayor of Warsaw.
The EU’s climate target of a 55% emissions reduction by 2030 should be considered the bare minimum if we are to keep on track to fulfil the Paris Agreement goal of keeping the global temperature rise within 1.5 Celsius by 2050.
This headline figure masks huge discrepancies between EU member states in terms of climate ambitions and actions. Most notably, as mayors of the Visegrad 4 capital cities, we believe it risks generating a new gap between East and West.
This is not a path to success. Without stronger contributions from Central and Eastern European countries regarding decarbonisation, EU targets will not be met.
Thankfully, there are strong voices in favour of Europe’s Green Deal commitments within the Visegrad region and cities offer a potential bridge.
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EurActiv, 8 Jul 2021: Balance climate ambition with recovery efforts so that East can meet West
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