Climate change now a 'catastrophe', Roberta Metsola says

Drastic change is urgently needed to address the growing “catastrophe” that is climate change, National MEP Roberta Metsola said.

Speaking to MEPs in Strasbourg as they discussed the Amazon and other forest fires, Metsola said that when Greta Thunberg, who she described as a “voice of her generation,” asked politicians to panic, she was right. “It is up to us whether we panic by running into a wall or by taking drastic action.”

“That’s the choice we face. Against the backdrop of unprecedented climate change and deforestation at levels we have not seen before, the earth’s lungs are quickly filling with smoke. We have now moved from a climate emergency to a climate catastrophe. The world deserves a better response than schoolyard political sniping games on Twitter,” she said.

The destruction of forests worldwide was debated with the Finnish Minister for European Affairs for the Council and European Commissioner Karmenu Vella during a plenary session of the European Parliament.

In July, the European Commission published a document listing a number of actions needed to protect and restore the world’s forests, which host 80% of biodiversity on land. Preservation of forests is the key in the fight against climate change. Moreover, forests support the livelihoods of around a quarter of the world's population.

“The entire system is flawed. Our habits and our throw-away society coupled with populist political short-termism will have tragic consequences on the lives and the health of our children and their children. When all the evidence shows us that the way we are consuming our natural resources on our planet is unsustainable, we have to have the courage to take the tough decisions we need. We did it with plastic, we managed to push through a ban of some of the worst products but it is time to go further and Europe can be the global leader in this,” Metsola said.