EU climate chief Frans Timmermans is set to lead the center-left bloc ... - The Associated Press
EU climate chief Frans Timmermans is set to lead the center-left bloc into Dutch general elections | AP News
EU climate chief Frans Timmermans is set to lead the center-left bloc into Dutch general elections
FILE - European Commissioner for European Green Deal Frans Timmermans speaks during a media conference on threats of climate change and environmental degradation on peace, security, and defense at EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, June 28, 2023. European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans is the only candidate to lead a merged campaign between two left-leaning parties in the Dutch general election in November, the parties announced Friday, Aug. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans is the only candidate to lead a merged campaign between two left-leaning parties in the Dutch general election in November, the parties announced Friday.
Timmermans, a former Dutch foreign minister who is now the European Union’s climate chief, is set to be confirmed as leader of the Labor Party and Green Left campaign Aug. 22 after a vote by members.
In a message Friday on X, formerly known as Twitter, the parties lauded Timmermans as a leader “who gives direction to a green and social course” for the Netherlands. “Who knows how to bridge differences, who wants to restore confidence and who has a clear vision for the future of our country.”
Members of the two parties agreed last month to go into the Nov. 22 election with a shared manifesto and one list of candidates in an effort to unite the center-left vote in the splintered Dutch political landscape.
The last four ruling Dutch coalitions have been led by conservative leader Mark Rutte’s People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy.
Rutte and his last four-party coalition resigned in July after failing to reach agreement on a package of measures to rein in migration. Rutte, the Netherlands’ longest-serving premier, has announced that he will leave politics once a new coalition is formed after the election.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate diplomacy
Talks are well underway in preparation for the next major international meeting on climate change, 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28), scheduled to begin Nov. 30 in the United Arab Emirates.
Much like last year’s COP27, finances — specifically, aid to developing nations — will be at the center of conference deliberations.
The conference faces an even greater sense of urgency brought on by the Sept. 8, 2023, release of the first global stocktake, which calls for accelerated action to meet the goals set in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement (COP21).
Climate diplomacy: COP 27 | Climate diplomacy: COP 28 | Climate diplomacy: COP 29