EU leaders are hailing their bid to make Europe the world's first carbon-neutral continent by 2050 as a "Man on the Moon" moment. But is Europe's giant leap towards net-zero carbon at risk of becoming a stumble in the dark, amid a rise in right-wing populism that is turning more and more Europeans against green politics? To "climatic neutrality" on January 1, 2050, 9,590 days remain, according to countdown clock of the European Commission Ester Asin, director of the European Policy Office of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), told FRANCE 24 , that the Green Deal is at a crucial point. Since record heat, drought, floods a fires are plaguing Europe more frequently and more intensely, Asin said the EU should speed up its efforts to achieve its green goals, rather than using political brakes, as she says some parties are doing. “We believe that now, after the summer we've had, [and] the many summers we're likely to have, there's no time to stop or slow down. On the contrary, we must continue the path of reforms. to ensure that we get to this transition that is also fair for all Europeans." (Douglas HERBERT)