Op-Ed: “The Future of Climate Change in the EU – A Legal Perspective in the Context of the Conference on the Future of Europe” by Rui Tavares Lanceiro

Climate change and the EU

Climate change is one of the central challenges humanity will have to face in the coming years and decades. The transversal nature of the impacts of climate change means that they can be felt in all fields and activities, including agriculture, human health, biodiversity, natural disasters, water resources, or urban life and cities. In this context, 2021 was considered a ‘crucial year’ for climate change, especially in connection with COP26, but also in a more general sense of the urgency of the matter.

The EU and its Member States are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement. In December 2019, the European Commission