SAVE EUROPE CLIMATE

In days, the European Commission will debate a roadmap to confront climate change up to the year 2030! It’s one of the biggest decisions of our lifetimes, and it’s up to us to make sure they put forward a plan for our planet, not big polluters.

If Europe flunks this, we won’t be able to get the climate deal we need to save our planet. Some member states and Commissioners have set their sights low after lobbying by dirty industries. But several major governments just wrote an open letter saying they want more ambition. It’s down to the wire, and if enough of us appeal to Commission President Barroso to step up, he can bring the decisive influence to strike a win for a our planet.

After 9 years at the top, President Barroso has only months left, and wants to leave office looking good. He’s given strong leadership on climate before, let’s remind him now that sealing an ambitious European climate plan is his chance to leave a lasting legacy! We only have 24 days till the meeting -- click below to send him an urgent message now:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_eu_climate_legacy_f/?tWlDobb

Experts say a target of 50% is the key to unlocking tens of billions in investments for the low carbon economy, where cutting-edge innovation drives jobs and economic growth. It is also the minimum ambition required to bring other countries to the negotiating table for a global climate deal at the 2015 Paris climate summit.

So far only the UK has supported anything remotely close to what scientists prescribe. The result is that the Commission is not feeling any pressure to deliver an ambitious strategy -- they fear member states will simply gut it. But they’re not counting on us to save the day!

Once the Commission releases its target we’ll have 2 months of negotiation between individual governments, and Avaaz members will be there every step of the way to make sure Europe’s 2030 climate Roadmap is a race to the top, not bottom. Our ability to do that hinges on the Commission coming out with the strongest plan possible -- so let’s make sure the President leads.

President Barroso has the power and the imperative to make sure this doesn’t happen and we need to hold him personally accountable in front of the world’s media. We need to remind Barroso what’s at stake and show him that there’s strong support behind his quest to become a climate hero. We can’t afford to let him cave into pressure from the fossil fuel industry now. Click below to send your message:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_eu_climate_legacy_f/?tWlDobb

We won’t avoid the worst impacts of climate change if we let our leaders get away with setting goals that simply aren’t good enough. Our community has played pivotal roles in shifting climate policy in countries like Brazil, Germany and Japan. We have a big battle to win in Europe now - so let’s get cracking!

With hope and determination,

Iain, Meredith, Julien, Bissan, Ricken, Lisa, Alice, and the entire Avaaz team

MORE INFORMATION:

EU Commission split over 2030 climate targets (Responding to climate change)
http://www.rtcc.org/2014/01/11/eu-commission-split-over-2030-climate-targets/

Barrroso climate heroes (European Union Press Release)
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-13-86_en.htm