Greta Thunberg: EU climate law is ‘surrender’

Setting a 2050 target for net-zero emissions ’means giving up,’ say activists.

Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg has slammed the EU’s efforts on climate a day ahead of the publication of the bloc’s flagship law.

The European Commission is on Wednesday set to propose a European Climate Law designed to set a legally binding target for the bloc to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

In an open letter together with 33 other climate strikers released, Thunberg on Tuesday wrote: “This climate law is surrender.”

“‘Net zero emissions by 2050’ for the EU equals surrender. It means giving up. We don’t just need goals for just 2030 or 2050. We, above all, need them for 2020 and every following month and year to come,” the letter read.

The activists argue the EU is delaying action that should be taken immediately to halt global warming. While the law is set to commit to a 2050 target, it doesn’t map out how that would be achieved and dodges the politically charged issue of increasing the bloc’s 2030 target, according to a draft obtained by POLITICO.

Thunberg will on Wednesday meet commissioners and speak in the European Parliament in Brussels.

“We will not be satisfied with anything less than a science-based pathway … This climate law is surrender – because nature doesn’t bargain and you cannot make ”deals” with physics,” the letter said.