Brussels, 10 March 2009 - In support of the Caritas Internationalis and CIDSE campaign on climate change, several members of the Caritas Europa network have addressed a letter to their national ministers of Environment, Finance and Development, ahead of a series of important Council meetings scheduled in March.

Chief amongst these will be the next EU Spring Summit that will take place on 19-20 March. The Environment ministers’ Spring Council was held on 2 March, while Finance ministers are meeting on 10 March.

The overall goal of this campaign is to persuade EU leaders to break with their ambiguous position on how to tackle climate change, which contrasts with their quick and clear reaction to the ongoing economic crisis. This ambiguity is stalling the beginning of real negotiations and threatening the chances to reach an agreement upon a global treaty on climate change at the UN Conference in Copenhagen, 7-18 December 2009.