Published:
24 Jun 2008 - There must be a clear, ambitious
target for cutting CO2 emissions from transport
in Europe. Citizen behaviour, together with
improved use of technologies, have a major
role to play. These are just a few of the
messages emerging from the seminar: “Right
on track - choosing the most eco-friendly
transport option” organised by the International
Union of Railways (UIC) today at the European
Environment Agency.
The UIC, with 171 member
organisations worldwide, chose the conference
to launch two innovative internet tools,
EcoPassenger and EcoTransIT. These tools
allow passengers to compare the energy consumed
by a given journey, depending on the means
of transport. In addition, users can calculate
the true emissions of CO2 and other pollutants
in order to choose the greener alternative
for an itinerary within Europe. Such in-depth,
cross-border information about the carbon
footprint of travel was previously unavailable
to the general public.
EcoPassenger and EcoTransIT
were developed in cooperation with the German
Institute of Energy and Environmental Research.
“These new tools provide consumers with
the facts they need to minimise their impacts
on the environment from their travel choices”,
said Professor Jacqueline McGlade, Executive
Director of the EEA.
Spiralling emissions
from passenger and freight transport account
for 22% of carbon emissions in the EU-27.
They can be tackled with an adequate set
of policies — including modal shift to less
polluting forms of transport, using bioenergy
with appropriate respect for sustainability
constraints and internalising external costs.
However, transport continues to demonstrate
worrying trends compared to other sectors
and remains a major source of greenhouse
gas emissions and other pollutants in Europe.
“The transport sector
needs to intensify its efforts, meeting
demands in a more effective way to achieve
emissions reduction”, said Professor McGlade
“If we do nothing about the growing emissions
from transport — in particular road, aviation
and shipping — the transport sector alone
will produce more emissions in 2050 than
the total allowance for Europe from all
sources” added Professor McGlade, referring
to the goal set by the European Council
of cutting emissions by 60-80 % by that
time.
EEA reports on progress in greenhouse gas
emissions reductions in 2006
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Climate change targets:
350 ppm and the EU two-degree target
Published: 23 Jun 2008
- The 350 ppm CO2 target is the focus of
an international campaign announced today
in several media by the Tällberg Forum.
This is the follow-up to the objective proposed
by the NASA Chief Scientist James Hansen
and his colleagues to limit the concentration
of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350
ppm (parts per million). The goal is to
avoid global climate change with potentially
very large and irreversible effects on human
society and the natural environment.
How does this compare
to the EU target to limit the increase in
global temperature to a maximum of 2 degrees
centigrade over pre-industrial levels?
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), in its 4th Assessment report, has
indicated that achieving the 2 ºC target
will mean stabilising greenhouse gas (GHG)
concentrations in the atmosphere at about
445 to 490 ppm CO2-equivalents. This includes
a number of greenhouse gases (not only carbon
dioxide), and corresponds to about 400 ppm
CO2 alone. A stabilisation at 400 ppm CO2-equivalents
corresponds to about 350 ppm CO2.
To get to the 350 ppm CO2 target put forward
by Dr Hansen, the total greenhouse gas concentration
will need to fall to about 400 ppm CO2-equivalents.
This is at the low end of a range of stabilisation
concentration possibilities and is fully
compatible with the EU 2-degrees-centigrade
target.
The Tällberg Forum
is holding an international conference in
Sweden from 26 to 29 June 2008 to discuss
how to achieve this lower level through
'The Perfect Agreement and its Perfect Implementation'
as an idealised design of a global deal
that will serve as a benchmark for the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The Convention is aiming to reach an international
climate change agreement in Copenhagen in
December 2009.
James Hansen (who is
addressing the US Congress to raise awareness
on the 350 ppm target) and Kofi Annan, former
UN Secretary-General are among King Carl
XVI Gustaf of Sweden's guests at the Tällberg
Forum.
