The EU parliament will send a 15-strong delegation to the upcoming climate talks, it has emerged.
It will be headed by Lidia Pereira, an EPP member from Portugal.
The group will attend the climate talks in Antalya, Türkiye which run from 16 to 20 November.
Ahead of the crunch meeting, parliament has laid out what it says are its priorities for the gathering.
They want political leaders to:
- Speed up the global exit from fossil fuels;
- Urgently increase climate financing and make it fairer for vulnerable countries and
- Deliver on adaptation and loss-and-damage pledges
Parliament has just adopted its negotiating mandate for the COP 31 talks, demanding “faster climate action on fossil fuels, finance and vulnerable countries.”
The 9-20 November UN climate talks are expected to focus on advancing the fossil fuel transition, launching the next global stocktake, and operationalising the climate finance goal agreed at COP29.
In their resolution, adopted by raise of hands, MEPs point to 2025 as one of the hottest years on record and to Europe as the fastest-warming continent, arguing the EU cannot afford to slow down on its climate action.
MEPs say the EU remains on track for a 54% emissions cut by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, if member states deliver on existing plans.
However, MEPs flag that preliminary Eurostat figures show emissions actually rose by 1% between 2024 and 2025.
EU Member states and the Commission must now close this gap, MEPs say, stressing that all EU policies must remain aligned with the Paris Agreement and guided by the best available science.
The text urges all parties to advance the roadmap on transitioning away from fossil fuels, as agreed at the previous climate conference, COP30.
MEPs call for the EU to take a “leading” role in the negotiations towards a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty and for time-bound plans to phase out fossil fuel subsidies and production.
They are urging the EU to “lead by example” with its own timeline and strategy for an economy-wide phase-out.
They also highlight the vulnerabilities created by fossil fuel dependence at a time of geopolitical instability, and the importance of decarbonisation for the EU’s strategic autonomy.
MEPs say they also want to stress that the gap between climate finance needs and what is currently being provided is significant and growing, and call for it to be “urgently addressed.”
While noting that the EU and its member states remain the largest providers of public climate finance, they call for continued increases in contributions, in particular through grants and highly concessional finance.
The resolution also calls for climate finance to be allocated so as not to worsen the debt burden on climate-vulnerable countries, giving priority to grant-based finance and debt relief instruments.
Noting that up to 3.6 billion people are living in contexts highly vulnerable to climate change, MEPs call for the rapid scaling-up of predictable and accessible finance for the fund for responding to loss and damage.
The resolution calls on all parties to deliver on the goal of tripling adaptation finance by 2035.
They also call for swift operationalisation of the just transition mechanism agreed at COP30, and for climate action to be paired with measures supporting green jobs, reskilling and social dialogue.
The European Climate Law established the goal for the EU to become climate neutral by 2050 and to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.
