EU climate deal receives mixed response
December 1st 2008 EU leaders today agreed measures to deliver a unilateral commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. They also made a commitment to increase this target to 30% in the context of an international climate agreement.
The Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Ed Miliband welcomed the agreement saying:“The rest of the world has been watching, and Europe has delivered a credible and ambitious climate package. It sends a signal that, even in the most challenging of economic times, it’s possible to take bold far-sighted action to slash emissions.
“Today’s agreement gives us the practical means to achieving our emission targets.The EU’s Emission Trading System is strengthened with a tighter cap and a greater levels of auctioning, putting a premium on low carbon technologies.We'll see a massive increase in renewable energy and pressure from the UK has secured billions in funding for vital carbon capture and storage demonstration plants.
“Combined with a new spirit of engagement from the United States, there is now everything to play for as we put the pieces in place for a global climate deal in Copenhagen next December.”
However, Greenpeace warned that European leaders lack both the vision and the political will to get a global deal in Copenhagen next year. Robin Oakley,Greenpeace UK climate campaigner, said: “If Europe’s leaders can’t even bring themselves to rule out new coal plants and accept the emissions targets the science is demanding, you have to say they shouldn’t have bothered going to Brussels. Frankly our climate and our children’s future would have been safer if they’d never got on their planes and gone to this meeting.We can’t beat climate change with weak targets and new coal, whatever Brown and Merkel and the rest of them may choose to believe.”
EU Governments had put political acceptability ahead of environmental acceptability,bowing to pressure from big business.
Confirming the mixed response the CBI’s Director-General,Richard Lambert, said:“This is a good deal for business and the environment.It secures an EU-wide cap on greenhouse gas emissions and allocates more money to developing carbon reduction technologies.
“By setting a price for carbon up to 2020, the deal means it will make business sense to invest in carbon reduction. Extending the auctioning of carbon permits to more firms will also incentivise low carbon investment, but EU leaders have been unnecessarily cautious here.
“Today’s deal is a good starting point for governments to argue for a robust international agreement to succeed the Kyoto protocol.” Commenting on specific support for clean coal technology,Mr Lambert said:“The extra support agreed for carbon capture and storage will help to get this vital technology up and running.”
With regard to renewable energy, “Europe has taken a world leadership position with this ambitious package,”says Philip Wolfe, director general of the Renewable Energy Association.“This will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs in this country,while improving energy security and fighting climate change.Spending money on boosting renewable heat, electricity and transport fuel production can help lift us out of recession.We’ll be investing this money to reduce our energy costs and protect us against future oil price hikes,”said Mr Wolfe.
Again opposing views were heard such as the fact that ‘solar power will be massive and the world is not prepared’,warned Kees van der Leun speaking from the Econcern Sustainable Energy Event,running alongside the COP14 in Poznan.Van der Leun,board member of Econcern urges industry and governments to adapt the grid to solar.He warned:“If no extra measures are taken regarding grid access and regulation then already by 2009 the possible growth in the solar power industry will be constrained.We urgently call for an action plan.Paperwork and the physical grid connection are bottlenecks already. It is urgent to solve these issues,because growth in solar energy is much faster than many expect.”
What EU leaders have agreed:
• Commitment to a 20% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels, rising to 30% if a global deal is reached.
• European wide commitment to 20% of all energy to come from renewable sources by 2020
• Across the package,most of the 20% reduction will be delivered domestically due to reductions as a result of the renewables targets, energy efficiency targets and the ETS.Access to international carbon credits to be limited in the ETS to ensure that at least half of the reductions required take place within the EU, whilst allowing flexibility to invest in low carbon projects across the globe.
• The centrally set cap on the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) will deliver emissions 21% below 2005 levels by 2020.
• At least 60% of EU ETS allowances to be auctioned by 2020. In Phase II only around 3% of allowances are being auctioned.
• Use of 300million EU ETS allowances,worth billions of pounds, to part-fund up to 12 Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration plants.
• A commitment to use half of all auctioning revenues to tackle climate change,within the EU and internationally.This will help create opportunities in developing clean technology and set us on the path to a low carbon economy.
• Agreement of effort sharing in sectors not covered by the EU ETS. In the UK this would equate to a 16% reduction from 2005 levels by 2020.
• There will also be a binding annual trajectory towards 2020 targets to ensure continuous effort. More articles from WEE News Desk: | 
