Climate security

EU declares EMERGENCY for Europe: Parliament issues chilling warning

A vote to register the current situation across the continent a “climate emergency” was passed by a large majority. It comes a day after an internal EU docoment revealed climate protection could cost Europe €3trillion. German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said the European Commission laid out how €300billion would be spent each year. This is part of Brussels plans for Europe to become the first carbon neutral continent by 2050.

The funds would be coming from the EU budget as well as member states and the private sector, claims the bloc paper.

New EU President Ursula von der Leyen has called for at least half the budget of the bloc to be spent on climate protection.

However, a spokesman for Ms von der Leyen said: "The cited Commission document is not known to her and it could at most be administrative considerations."

Activists praised the move with many seeing it as a rebuke to Donald Trump and his actions against the Paris climate deal.