24/10/2005
- Brussels, Belgium – The European Union can cut a third
of its greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 through energy efficiency
and renewable energies, as well as through a strong emissions
trading system, says WWF.
A new report — Target 2020: Policies and measures to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions in the EU — presented today by
the global conservation organization highlights the concrete
steps that the EU should take to cut CO2 emissions by 33
per cent by 2020, even with a moratorium on nuclear energy.
On the day the European Commission launches the next phase
of the European Climate Change Programme, WWF stresses that
a climate-friendlier Europe will bring the EU huge benefits,
including less dependency on foreign sources of energy,
cost savings for all sectors of the economy, reduced health
costs due to lower pollution, and more job opportunities
in the field of renewable energies and energy conservation.
"Achieving this goal is not about available technologies,
it is about making strong and determined decisions,"
says Oliver Rapf, Head of the WWF European Climate and Energy
Unit.
"With ambitious policies, a strong emissions trading
system and mandatory targets for energy efficiency and renewable
energies, Europe will become an efficient, secure and environmentally
safe place to live and to do business."
The report shows that by 2020 the EU’s energy demand could
be reduced by 20 per cent without reducing living standards
or damaging the economy. Without immediate action energy
demand will grow up to 1.46 per cent per year, while it
could decrease by 0.4 per cent per year if concrete policies
are adopted. Private households
alone could save a fifth of their energy demands through
better insulation, more efficient heating and cooling
systems, and by using more energy-efficient appliances.
The power sector could reduce its CO2 emission by more
than half, with more investment made in renewable energies,
combined heat and power generation and consumer energy
conservation.
Renewable energy sources, such as biomass (organic waste,
wood and biogas), wind and sustainable hydro, have the
potential to grow from today’s 1.8 per cent per year to
6.10 per cent. Greenhouse gas emissions non-related to
energy consumption can also be reduced by 33 per cent,
mainly in the agricultural and waste sectors.
WWF calls on the EU to adopt a comprehensive climate policy
strategy with a strong emissions trading system at its
heart, supported by directives that promote mandatory
targets for energy efficiency as well as legal and fiscal
support to renewable energies. An ecological finance reform
should also be implemented to remove direct and indirect
subsidies for unsustainable energy.
"The EU must take the lead and grasp the technical,
political and economic opportunities to reduce CO2 emissions
by one third by 2020," added Oliver Rapf.
"This will work towards global
efforts to keep the world’s average temperature less than
2°C above pre-industrial levels and will help the
EU to renew and intensify its leadership in international
climate change negotiations."
NOTES:
• The report "Freezing climate
change" has been developed for WWF by the Wuppertal
Institute (Germany), www.wupperinst.org
• The report compares a "business
as usual" scenario, that assumes existing policies
will continue without specific emphasis on climate and
energy, with a "target 2020" scenario, which
considers the potential to increase energy efficiency
and market penetration of renewable energies. This scenario
also assumes a fuel switch to less carbon-intensive fossil
fuels and a moratorium on new nuclear power plants and
compliance with ongoing nuclear phase-out. |
