A potential trade deal between the European Union and South America's Mercosur bloc is "very bad" for both sides, French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday during a visit to Brazil.
Speaking at a business forum in Sao Paulo, Macron said the Mercosur-EU agreement was outdated and needed to be revised to take climate change into account.
"The trade deal with Mercosur as it is being negotiated now is a very bad deal. For you and for us," Macron said. "It was negotiated 20 years ago. We need to rebuild it."
Macron's comments were a reaffirmation of his opposition to the agreement, which has been the most outspoken among European leaders.
Macron opposes any deal until South American producers are held to the same environmental and health standards as Europeans. Mercosur is made up of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
"You can try to reanimate that flame, but it is not the same thing. We need to rebuild it as the world is now. It is important to take diversity and the climate into account, and those are not being considered," Macron said.
"(We want) a responsible trade deal, that has development, climate and biodiversity. A deal for a new generation, with clauses that allow reciprocity," the French president added.
India’s economy will become carbon neutral by the year 2070, the country’s prime minster has announced at the COP26 climate crisis summit in Glasgow. The target date is two decades beyond what scientists say is needed to avert catastrophic climate impacts. India is the last of the world’s major carbon polluters to announce a net-zero target, with China saying it would reach that goal in 2060, and the United States and the European Union aiming for 2050.
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
A crucial U.N. conference heard calls on its first day for the world's major economies to keep their promises of financial help to address the climate crisis, while big polluters India and Brazil made new commitments to cut emissions. World leaders, environmental experts and activists all pleaded for decisive action to halt the global warming which threatens the future of the planet at the start of the two-week COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Monday. The task facing negotiators was made even more daunting by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments at the weekend.