Macron ally backs Spanish socialist Ribera as EU climate boss - POLITICO Europe
Macron ally backs Spanish socialist Ribera as EU climate boss - POLITICO
PARIS — Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Teresa Ribera has landed a major cross-party endorsement in her quest to be named EU green chief.
Pascal Canfin, an MEP from the centrist Renaissance party of French President Emmanuel Macron, told POLITICO that if Ribera were to be put in charge of the EU's Green Deal under the next European Commission: “I would find it very, very good.”
Canfin is a close ally of Macron and chaired the European Parliament’s powerful environment committee during the last five years. The nod from a French centrist is a win for Ribera, who is leading the Spanish Socialist's campaign for June's EU election.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”