Speeches

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in history, a city, Lytton in Canada, has been completely wiped off the map as a result of climate change, the origins of which are human activities, in particular the exploitation of fossil fuels. The next day, it was the ocean itself that caught fire off the Gulf of Mexico, following a gas leak whose exploitation we would have to stop if we wanted to preserve the climate, biodiversity, in a word: Life on Earth. How does this relate to our discussion of the day on the European Interconnection Mechanism? Well, simply because the text before us today proposes that we continue to spend the money of Europeans on gas pipelines that condemn us to depend on fossil fuels for several more decades. No sooner have we voted for the objective of carbon neutrality through the Climate Law than we are now rushing to authorise the financing of gas infrastructure projects and even dare to declare this a contributor to the fight against climate change. The climate will appreciate. So the choice is simple: vote and accept a seven-year funding programme in a crucial climate decade, ending two years before our 2030 targets, made unsustainable by the targets and funding credits we are about to vote on. Or to vote for the rejection amendment that Ciarán Cuffe and I are proposing to postpone the outcome of the negotiations by one month, in order to defend the positions of the European Parliament, the objectives of the Green Deal and help save the climate. One month versus seven years: We hope, ladies and gentlemen, that you will give us your full support.