EC President Reports from COP 25

Europe has the lead in the global struggle against climate change, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen told journalists on December 4 after the first meeting of the new college of EU commissioners and just after her return from the UN COP 25 in Madrid. She said that the EU would have the first climate law in place next year, enforcing climate neutrality for the bloc by 2050, and she said that EU leaders were increasingly getting on board with this idea. 

But this would mean a lot of investment and the load would not be spread evenly "as we are not all starting from the same point," she said. Some countries for example are still heavily reliant on coal for power generation.

"That is why we have set up a 'Just Transition' fund, she said. It would raise about €100 ($110)bn for investment and the European Investment Bank would leverage the necessary public and private means. But she said it would be a huge opportunity for the EU to carry out research and development into green technology.

She said she had asked Maros Sefcovic, in charge now of interinstitutional relations and foresight, to present her next week with the known costs of climate change to date, in order to calculate the consequences of future inaction.

COP 25 had been scheduled for Santiago, Chile, but there is major public unrest there, imperilling the hosting of such a huge event.