NGOs sue France for not doing enough

A group of NGOs including Greenpeace and Oxfam have launched a lawsuit against the French state accusing it of taking insufficient action to tackle climate change.

It comes after similar action was launched by farmers in Germany, and the Dutch government lost a landmark case brought by an environmental rights group on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

"The failure of the state in the fight against climate change reflects a lack of respect in its obligation to protect the environment and the health and security of the population," the NGOs said in a joint statement on Monday.

The French government will have two months to respond to the legal action.

Meanwhile, European Union members and the European Parliament on Monday agreed to slash carbon dioxide emissions from new cars by 37.5 percent by 2030, the European Commission announced.

The announcement comes two days after the end of the COP24 summit in Poland where one of the largest disappointments for countries of all wealths and sizes was the lack of ambition to reduce emissions shown in the final text.

Emissions from new vans will have to be 31 percent lower than in 2021, according to Monday's agreement.