“The promotion of renewable energy has the greatest impact on emissions in most Member States for both implemented and planned policies.”

Analysis of greenhouse gas emission trends and projections in Europe 2004 - EEA report Technical report N°4/ December 2004

  
Introduction | CAN-Europe’s Views | EU Renewable Energy Policy | International Renewable Energy Policy | Links

The global energy challenge of our time is to tackle the threat of climate change, meet the rising demand for energy and to safeguard secure energy supply to all groups of society. Renewable energy are effective energy technologies that are ready for global deployment today on a scale that can help tackle these problems.

Increasing our use of renewable energy reduces carbon dioxide emissions; cuts local air pollution; creates high-value jobs; curbs our growing dependence on imports of fossil energy (which increasingly come from politically unstable regions of the world).

The cost of renewable energy have already fallen significantly compared with conventional energy sources. The current massive subsidies to nuclear and fossil forms of energy needs to be phased out and the external costs for these forms of energy have to be included in the price of energy. Renewable energy sources also offer huge benefits to developing countries, especially towards the provision of modern energy services to the estimated 2 billion people who currently lack them.

CAN-Europe believes that the EU has a key role to play in the development and promotion of sustainable renewable energy sources and that doing so should become a fundamental part of EU foreign policy. At present Europe is the market leader for most renewable energy technologies, most notably wind energy and this has great job creation and export potential.

Renewable energy sources needs to be vigorously promoted if they are to deliver their benefits as fast as is needed. At the moment the EU’s member states have a variety of promotion mechanisms. The EU institutions need to highlight the most effective solutions  and encourage learning from best practive without at this stage demand formal harmonization. At present, conventional energy sources are heavily subsidised, and these distructive subsidies must be phased out. Support for renewable energy sources in the meantime merely compensates in part for these market distortions. The EU also needs to put renewables at the core of its larger policy programmes – structural and regional funds; Euromed; CAP; co-operation with non-EU Europe; CFPS and many others. Currently these still support fossil forms of energy.

Internationally, the EU must set an example by committing itself to longer-term targets, starting with a target for 2020. These targets must be matched with clear policy and funding frameworks for meeting them. Finally, the EU must engage with international partners to create a global framework for promoting renewable energy sources.