EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission on Wednesday
(9 February)
announced a climate strategy for after 2012 but was immediately criticised by
environment groups for not going far enough.
Speaking about the costs and benefits of fighting climate change, Environment
Commissioner Stavros Dimas said "the cost of inaction is
tremendous".
According to the Commissioner, the global battle against climate change willcost
roughly 0.5% of GDP but if nothing is done to curb the introduction of
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the economic and environmental consequences
will cost between 1.5% and 2% of GDP.
Commission President José Manuel Barroso, in a bid to counteract recent
claims that he is sacrificing environment matters for a stronger focus on
economic liberalisation, was also present at the presentation of the proposals.
He said the EU has not achieved the aims in sustainable development that it set itself five years ago.
"Climatic change is getting faster. We need to create a balance economically, socially and environmentally", said Mr Barroso.
The document calls for a 15% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050,
but near - to medium-term targets are premature at the moment, said Mr
Dimas.
But environmental groups were quick to criticise the fact that Brussels did
not mention legally binding targets for emission reductions in its new
strategy.
"The January sales are over, but the commission is still cheapening its
leadership of the EU battle against climate change", said Mahi Sideridou
of
Greenpeace.
Green groups also criticised the lack of engagement by the US. "It is
high time the United States begin to take action on climate change.
The United States' share in world population is only 4%, yet they emit more
than 20% of total greenhouse gases", Friends of the Earth said in a
statement.
However, this was acknowledged by the Commission which said that in order totemper increases in global temperatures, participation needs to be broadened
through reengagement of the US as well as larger developing economies such as China and India.
The Commission's document, which is to be discussed by EU environment ministers
next month, calls for further analysis of the impact of the air
and marine transport industries towards climate change. Mr Dimas also stressed
the need to focus research on carbon dioxide storage
and capturing, renewable energy and energy efficiency.
"With an average global temperature increase of 0.6 degrees centigrade,
we can already see more floods, hurricanes, and other natural disasters. If
we
add two degrees more, we will see more and bigger problems. Agriculture, forestry,
fisheries, biodiversity and health will suffer," said the
environment commissioner.
The strategy re-confirms the Union's intention to cap global warming at 2.0 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
The Commission's plans come just days before the international climate change treaty, the Kyoto Protocol, goes into place.
It is due to expire in 2012 and the EU is supposed to come up with ideas for a post-Kyoto strategy this year.
Also: http://www.euractiv.com/Article?tcmuri=tcm:29-135251-16&type=News
http://www.eubusiness.com/afp/050209145529.asgsps47
Agence France Presse (AFP). The European Union executive came
under fire Wednesday for unveiling a new strategy against climate change for
the post-Kyoto era that fails to spell out targets to cut greenhouse gases.
Just a week before the Kyoto Treaty takes effect, the European Commission looked
ahead to the period after 2012 when the agreement lapses with a new
set of proposals to curb the warming of the Earth.
The document calls for new technologies and greater international cooperation
to tackle climate change, above all by engaging the United
States and major developing nations such as China and India.
"Fighting climate change is not a matter of choice, but a matter of necessity," EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said.
"We will continue to lead by example, but we will also continue to pressure hard for all of our international partners to come on board," he said.
Environmentalists attacked Brussels for, in their view, abandoning European
leadership on the issue by omitting any mention of legally binding targets
for emission reductions in its new strategy.
"The January sales are over, but the commission is still cheapening its
leadership of the EU battle against climate change," Greenpeace campaigner
Mahi Sideridou said.
Dimas retorted that it was too early to propose binding targets with Kyoto
only just taking force and emerging economies not yet part of a future
framework for negotiations.
"We would not like to scare off certain countries with targets at this
moment. We would like to find a way to discuss with them and get them into a
negotiation," he told a news conference.
"Personally I am for targets, but when they are set at the right moment."
Kyoto is due to expire in 2012. Talks for a follow-on agreement start next
year, and under the treaty's terms major players like Europe are supposed to
come up with ideas this year.
The 1997 Kyoto accord legally committed 39 industrial nations and territories
to trim their output of six greenhouse gases -- especially
carbon dioxide (CO2) -- by 2012 compared with 1990 levels.
Ratification by Russia in November gave the protocol the final stamp of approval needed for it to take effect from February 16.
The United States signed Kyoto's framework in 1997 but President George W.
Bush, in one of his first acts after taking office, abandoned the accord in
March 2001 on the grounds that it would be too costly for US industry.
He also said Kyoto was unfair because China and India, as developing countries
that were also becoming polluters, were not required to make
targeted emissions cuts.
Developing countries under Kyoto have to promise to do their best not to follow
industrialised countries down the path towards greenhouse-gas
pollution, but are not legally bound.
That omission is shaping up to be a key bone of contention in the post-Kyoto
age as industrialised nations press for major developing nations to be
brought on board the anti-global warming effort.
"In order to have real results, we should have the United States in, we
should have China, we should have India -- all these countries that are
going to contribute 75 percent (of greenhouse gases)," Dimas said.
The commission strategy, which will be debated by EU environment ministers
on March 10, reaffirms the bloc's intention to cap global warming at 2.0
degrees Celsius (35.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.
An intensified use of emissions trading between countries is foreseen as a central plank of the strategy to curb CO2 and other greenhouse gases.
More sectors such as aviation, maritime transport and forestry should also be brought into a post-Kyoto deal, Brussels argued.
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By Jeff Mason
BRUSSELS, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The European Union will not set
itself targets now for lowering emissions of greenhouse gases after 2012 as
it focuses
instead on pulling the United States and other developing nations into the climate
change battle.
The plans, announced by the EU executive Commission, drew fire from environmentalists,
who hoped the EU executive would spell out goals for
emissions cuts when the first period covered by the environmental treaty known
as the Kyoto Protocol ends.
Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas defended the Commission's plans, however,
saying targets at this stage would tie the EU's hand in
international climate negotiations by scaring away countries who are not covered
by Kyoto.
"At a certain moment, of course, we are going to have targets," Dimas told a news conference. "We think it is premature to use them now."
Setting targets has been a key part of EU environmental policy as a participant
in the Kyoto treaty, which aims to cut carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions by developed nations by 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12.
The treaty enters into force Feb. 16.
Dimas said the EU would maintain its leadership role and push for a post-2012
climate change plan that involves more big polluters like India,
China, and the United States.
"The reduction commitments that the EU would be willing to take under
such a regime should depend on the level and type of participation of other
major
emitters," a Commission paper said.
That statement rattled Greenpeace.
"What the European Commission is saying is they will wait and see what
other nations are doing. That is the biggest threat to the EU position so far,"
climate expert Mahi Sideridou said.
"We are waiting for the environment ministers and the heads of state to
develop the backbone that the Commission is currently lacking." EU leaders
will discuss climate change at a summit this spring, when the Commission will
present its views.
THREATS, COSTS
The EU executive said it would promote energy efficiency and a clampdown on
aviation and maritime pollution in future climate change policy. A study on
transport emissions will be published this summer. Both a kerosene tax and airline
participation in the EU emissions trading scheme will be considered.
U.S. President George W. Bush cited negative effects on the economy when Washington
pulled out of Kyoto, but British Prime Minister Tony Blair said
on Tuesday Washington wants to start discussing measures to combat climate change
and may sign up to an agreement on the issue this year.
The EU wants to keep global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius
above pre-industrial levels. Failure to do so, it says, will lead to
increases in flooding and other natural disasters, heat waves, famine, and disease.
CO2 is one of the main greenhouse gases, which trap heat in the earth's atmosphere, causing temperatures to rise.
The Commission paper stressed that the bloc's actions to reduce climate change would not be without economic cost.
The Commission estimated that cutting the bloc's emissions annually by roughly
1.5 percentage points after 2012 "would reduce GDP in 2025 by about
0.5 percent below the level it would reach in the absence of such a proactive
climate policy."
That scenario assumed participation of countries around the world in the climate change efforts, the document said.
-0-
AP, Feb. 9, 2005. The European Union head office proposed plans for curbing greenhouse gas emissions beyond 2012 on Wednesday, arguing that environmental protection need not come at the expense of economic growth if countries work together.
With its proposal the European Commission became the first region in the world
to announce a post-Kyoto strategy, underscoring its role as a global
leader in environmental protection. The 25-nation bloc will present its plans
to U.S. President George W. Bush during his Feb. 22 visit to Brussels.
"Without strong political leadership we can't win this battle," said EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. "We must act now."
The EU played a major part in getting Kyoto off the ground ‹ a difficult
task after the United States, the world's largest emitter of greenhouse
gases, pulled out of the treaty in 2001. The United States said the agreement
would hurt its industry and hinder economic growth.
Washington favors voluntary agreements with industry over binding targets, and is investing billion of dollars into new climate-friendly technologies.
The EU also wants to encourage rapidly emerging economies, such as China and
India, to play an active role because although emissions per capita in these
countries are lower than in the West, the large size of their pollution coupled
with economic growth will make them bigger polluters than the United
States and Europe together in the coming decades.
"Fighting climate change is not a matter of choice, but a matter of necessity,
said EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas. "We will continue
to lead by example, but we will also continue to pressure hard for all of our
international partners to come on board."
Within Europe new incentives, such as tax breaks, for the development and uptake
of new climate-friendly technologies are being considered. The EU
Commission also wants to increase ‹ by an unspecified amount ‹ money
invested in research and development. Moreover, the replacement of old power
plants, transport systems and buildings also should be guided by green principles.
The EU believes emissions from airplanes and shipping need to be addressed
both in Europe and abroad. They are currently outside the Kyoto rules
because some governments feared that applying pollution targets to transport
could hinder the development of global trade, hurting economic growth and
jobs.
The EU says the costs associated with curbing emissions are manageable for
the world's economies, providing they act together. Reducing emissions by
around 1.5 percent a year in the EU after 2012 would shave a total of 0.5 percent
to 1.5 percent off growth by 2025, the Commission says.
EU leaders will debate the Commission's proposal at a summit in Brussels in
March.