A “climate emergency” has been declared by the European Union’s legislature in a symbolic bid to push the issue as high as possible on the agenda of the EU’s executive team.

READ MORE: Pollution link to blood poisoning and kidney failure

The parliament voted by 429 to 225, with 19 abstentions, to call the increasing environmental challenges linked to climate change an emergency.

Renew Europe MEP Pascal Canfin, who initiated the move, said it made Europe “the first continent to declare a climate and environmental emergency”.

Mr Canfin said the parliament is meeting the expectations of European citizens.

READ MORE: Breeding ‘could cut emissions from cattle’

The EU has long been at the forefront of the global climate debate, a role that has been reinforced since the United States pulled out of the Paris climate agreement.