The Christian Aid European football squad took a break from their World Cup preparations to meet Chris Huhne, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, to ask him to score a goal for climate justice ahead of his first EU council meeting on climate change in Luxembourg on 11 June.
Assembling outside the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), the team asked Mr Huhne to ensure the EU commit to a unilateral 30% reduction in emissions targets by 2020.
Christian Aid has been campaigning to get Europe to cut its domestic emissions by at a minimum of 40% by 2020 to avoid global average temperature increases passing the 2˚C mark - and the disastrous consequences this would have for millions in developing countries.
However, 30% cuts would at least show the world that Europe still means business - and that rich-country politicians can provide leadership rather than obstruction when it comes to tackling global warming.
In the absence of and to enable an ambitious international agreement on climate change, Europe must lead the world into a new era of robust targets and meaningful action.
