Thread by @_richardblack

THREAD: At last year's UN climate summit #COP26 in Glasgow, governments recognised the paucity of their carbon-cutting plans for this decade and urged each other to make new ones before the end of this year

'...requests Parties to revisit and strengthen the 2030 targets in their nationally determined contributions as necessary to align with the Paris Agreement temperature goal by the end of 2022...' is the exact wording unfccc.int/sites/default/…

As enshrined in the UN climate convention, prosperous nations have a duty to go first

The problem is - no-one has, nor looks like doing so. At at their summit last week, G7 ministers discussed a making a joint commitment to put in new NDCs this year. But it didn't make the cut, with governments basically reaffirming the need bmwk.de/Redaktion/DE/D…

Like a bunch of people entering a bar, none of whom want to buy the first round of drinks, governments are basically holding the door open for each other and saying 'no, you go first'. It is building no momentum and no confidence at a time science shows is absolutely crucial

The EU has a golden opportunity to break the deadlock. The bloc itself, and many individual member states, are making plans that will cut emissions faster this decade. Vladimir Putin has seen to that

They're not calling it 'decarbonisation', they're calling it 'energy security'. But many, perhaps most, measures announced in response to Russia's aggression will reduce emissions

Energy efficiency and renewables mainly; but also heat pumps, electric vehicles, even green hydrogen. All, logically, should bring emissions down (as well as undercutting any new investments in new gas infrastructure)

Defence measures against Putins of the future include rebuilding trust in international norms and institutions. Including the @UNFCCC, which Putin's Russia has treated with nothing but contempt

So the no-brainer for the EU is: turn these new commitments into a new #NDC, and get it submitted before the deadline in September. Calculating the numbers shouldn't be hard, and the political equation is obvious

The UK can and should do likewise if it wants to reinforce its credibility as #COP26 President

This would throw down a gauntlet to other countries politically allied against the Ukraine invasion. Joe Biden, Anthony Albanese, Fumio Kishida: where are your new NDCs?

More at climatechangenews.com/2022/05/30/eur… @ClimateHome. Then, over to you @vonderleyen @TimmermansEU @eucopresident @EmmanuelMacron @OlafScholz @EUClimateAction @AlokSharma_RDG