An appeal, already signed by more than a million people, claims a budget of 500 billion euros per year to finance the European Green Pact, threatened by the economic crisis caused by the pandemic of Covid-19.
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" With 3 solutions - the cessation of subsidies and investments (in fossil fuels), a real climate bank and a real climate budget - we can mobilize more than 500 billion euros per year ", maintain the signatories of this call launched to EU leaders, two weeks before a summit devoted to examining a plan for a massive recovery plan for the European economy.
Presented by the European Commission last week, the plan provides for borrowing capacity of 750 billion euros over four years to strengthen a budget of 1.100 billion euros for the period 2021-2027. It must allow " to channel new resources for the Green Pact and digital, the two priorities of the EU ", assured the president of the European executive Ursula von der Leyen.
"Too few guarantees"
His proposal did not convince the 700 or so young activists, climatologists, trade unionists, economists, entrepreneurs and local, national and European elected representatives who signed the call, who launched the call. The appeal and the petition are published on Tuesday.
“ If the EU now has a proposed recovery plan, it is at this stage only a basis for negotiation. Too few guarantees have been given on the greenness "of the recovery and it is clear that to find a consensus, it will be necessary to agree on the creation of new own resources for the European budget, without weighing too much on national budgets, insist them in a press release.
MEPs Pierre Larrouturou (social democrat) and David Cormand (Greens), representative of the + Youth for Climate + movement for Belgium Adélaïde Charlier, former vice-president of the IPCC Jean-Pascal Van Ypersele and Wendel Trio, director of the NGO Climate Action Network Europe are the spokespersons of this action.
A ban on investments and subsidies in the field of fossil fuels would generate more than 112 billion euros per year, they argue. This request is supported by the leaders of the four main political groups of the European Parliament, signatories of the call.
A Climate Bank providing 300 billion euros per year in the form of zero-rate loans and a climate budget endowed with 100 billion per year by the combination of a European tax of 5% on the profits of large companies, adjusted according to of their carbon footprint, and by other own resources would complement the funding.
