Mayors of central European capitals call for tougher EU climate goals

(Reuters, 18 Jun 2020) The mayors of Warsaw, Budapest, Prague and Bratislava asked the EU to set more ambitious climate targets.

The mayors of Warsaw, Budapest, Prague and Bratislava have urged the European Union to set a more ambitious emissions reduction target for 2030, calling the escalating climate crisis a greater challenge than the coronavirus pandemic.

In an open letter to the president of the European Council, published on Wednesday, the mayors of the four capital cities said the EU should target a 55% emissions cut by 2030, compared with 1990 levels, up from its current goal for a 40% reduction, and asked for EU measures to support cities' climate action.

"The joint crises of the coronavirus and global warming creates an unprecedented test of concerted action for the EU," said the letter, which comes ahead of an EU summit on Friday, where national leaders will try to agree on the bloc's coronavirus recovery package and its next seven-year budget.

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Reuters, 18 Jun 2020: Mayors of central European capitals call for tougher EU climate goals