EU Statement – UN General Assembly: World Environment Day 2026

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am speaking on behalf of the European Union and its Member States. 

We would like to thank UNEP and Azerbaijan for organising this year’s commemoration of World Environment Day. This day provides an opportunity to reaffirm our collective responsibility to protect our planet, and therefore ourselves, through climate action. It is crucial that we all follow the science and accelerate climate action. The 1.5°C limit is not negotiable - it is a red line for humanity. Every tenth of a degree matters, and every delay increases the likelihood and extent of irreversible impacts.

The EU and its Member States remain at the forefront of global climate leadership, with the objective of accelerating international climate action to keep the 1.5°C goal within reach. Just two months ago, the EU Council adopted strong conclusions on its energy and climate diplomacy. These reaffirm the EU’s commitment to decarbonise our economies by 2050, by setting a domestic net emission reduction target of at least 55% by 2030 and a net emission reduction target of 90% by 2040, compared to 1990 levels, by scaling up renewables, and by phasing out fossil fuel dependencies. We are also supporting our international partners in their just transitions and resilient development pathways to leave no one behind, including by mobilising finance, technology, and expertise. Against this backdrop, we reaffirm that the climate crisis and environmental degradation directly impact peace and security as well as humanitarian needs. We therefore integrate climate and environmental considerations into all facets of the EU’s foreign, development and humanitarian policies.

Multilateral cooperation remains crucial as no country or region can tackle the climate crisis alone. We call on all countries to raise their climate ambition ahead of COP31, and for all countries who have not yet done so to submit 1.5°C-aligned nationally determined contributions for 2035. We must also close the gap between commitment and implementation. The defining challenge before us is not only the establishment of ambitious targets, but also their effective and urgent delivery. This requires all of us to accelerate the global energy transition, to scale up climate adaptation, to implement the first Global Stocktake, and to lay the groundwork for the second Global Stocktake in 2028. 

On this World Environment Day, let us reaffirm that climate action is not a choice, but a necessity for both present and future generations as well as for the future of all life on our beautiful planet. The EU and its Member States stand ready to work with all partners to accelerate action at COP31. I thank you.