Eight European Union countries have called for an ambitious strategy to tackle climate change, and to spend a quarter of the entire EU budget on fighting it.
The joint statement said the EU should have net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 “at the latest”.
BBC News reports France, Belgium, Denmark, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden signed the statement.
The group said their plan could “go hand in hand with prosperity” and “set an example for other countries to follow.”
The position paper comes ahead of a major summit of European leaders in the Romanian city of Sibiu, beginning on Thursday, which will discuss the future of Europe and the EU’s strategy for the next five years.
BBC News reports not everyone is on board, there are 28 countries in the EU, and several of those absent from the joint position statement are significant players, including Germany.
The position of the eight countries is that climate change has “profound implications for the future of humanity” and that its impacts are already apparent, citing “the heat waves and scorching fires of last summer”.
The group also said that their citizens were clearly concerned “as shown by the recent mobilisation of young people”, in an apparent reference to the wave of walk-outs and marches by schoolchildren across the continent.
The Extinction Rebellion protests in London in April also gained widespread attention and have spread to other countries.
“The EU budget currently under negotiation will be an important tool in this respect: at least 25 per cent of the spending should go to projects aimed at fighting against climate change,” the paper said.
Annual EU budgets have spending limits set by what is known as the multiannual financial framework (MFF).
The current one allowed the EU to spend more than €900bn between 2014 and 2020.
The eight-nation group is eyeing the next framework, which is set to cover 2021-2027.
The paper also added that “as a general principle” the EU budget should not fund anything that would add to climate emissions.
The group wants the EU to announce a policy of zero emissions by 2050 at the United Nations climate summit in September, and strengthen its existing targets at the same time.
BBC News reports at the moment, EU countries are required to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent from their 1990 levels by 2020, with the aim of raising that to a 40 per cent reduction by 2030.
However, many are set to miss these targets, some by a wide margin.
Some of the eight countries behind the proposal have already made stronger commitments.
French President Emmanuel Macron has made climate change a key issue for campaign speeches, while Sweden has already announced plans to become carbon neutral by 2045.
Speaking at a press conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, President Macron said the joint document was “ambitious” and that “we are in the middle of building a coalition on this”.
The goal of a carbon-neutral Europe by 2050 is not new, the European Commission proposed in November 2018, which is the starting point for European Union legislation.
The EC’s plan was based around the United Nations sponsored Paris Agreement targets of keeping global warming to “well below” a two degrees Celsius increase, and “pursue efforts” to reach 1.5°C as a limit.
However, such proposals need the support of the European Parliament, and ultimately the approval of the European Council, made up of the leaders of each member state.
BBC News reports those leaders will be meeting informally at the summit in Sibiu.
The position paper by eight of them is likely to be used as a launching point to bring others on board.
However, several countries oppose strengthening current commitments, which have proven difficult to stick to just two years after the Paris climate agreement was signed.
