TALLINN, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Environment ministers of European Union (EU) member states on Friday reaffirmed Europe's commitment to the Paris Agreement and stressed the role of cooperation in climate action.
On the second day of a two-day informal ministerial meeting, the ministers agreed to keep the promise to reduce EU carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030, which, in the long run, will benefit not only the environment but also the well-being of people and the competitiveness of the economy, Estonian Environment Minister Siim Kiisler was quoted as saying in a press release.
"As the leaders of G20 recently stated, a strong economy and a healthy planet are mutually reinforcing, and the Paris Agreement is irreversible," he noted.
The ministers said that effective climate action would require cooperation, including working with the private sector and local authorities, if the global agreement were to be a success.
Kiisler said the EU would continue to demonstrate global solidarity by investing in international cooperation to reduce climate-related risks, noting that the EU and its member states provided a total of 17.6 billion euros (about 20.2 billion U.S. dollars) from public budgets toward the efforts.
He also said that both climate and energy were among the priorities of Estonia's six-month presidency of the Council of the EU, which began in July. The program during the country's rotating presidency includes a reform of the emissions trading system (ETS); reducing emissions in sectors falling outside the ETS, and pushing forward with the clean energy package.
