Main content

EU pledges further 15% greenhouse gas emissions cut

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen delivered her first State of the Union.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen delivered her first State of the Union. One eye-catching announcement was a pledge to cut Europe's greenhouse gas emissions by a further 15% by 2030. Sam Fleming is Brussels bureau chief of the Financial Times, and gives us an overview of the speech. And we get additional reaction from Bas Eickhout, a Dutch MEP who is vice-chair of the Green Grouping in the European Parliament. Also in the programme, the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's Manuela Saragosa considers the role immigration policy is playing in this year's US presidential election. With the government of Zimbabwe offering to return some farms that were forcibly seized from foreign farmers, the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's Shingai Nyoka in Harare discusses the implications for President Emmerson Mnangagwa's predecessor Robert Mugabe's policy of land reform. Plus, on the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower of a group of puritans from England to the New World, a 21st century version of the craft is preparing to make the same journey with nobody on board. The Mayflower Autonomous Ship is the work of a consortium including IBM, whose UK chief technology officer is Andy Stanford-Clark.

(Picture: Ursula von der Leyen delivers her State of the Union speech. Picture credit: Reuters.)

Available now

27 minutes

Last on

Wed 16 Sep 2020 21:32GMT

Broadcast

  • Wed 16 Sep 2020 21:32GMT