01
Dec 2008 - London / Brussels / Gdansk –
As Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, and
French President, Nicolas Sarkozy host a
summit with Central and Eastern European
States in Gdansk on 6 December, WWF calls
on eastern European leaders to reach out
for the benefits of low carbon economies
rather than try to hold the line for continuing
high emissions and the economic model of
a century ago.
The summit with Bulgaria,
the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,
Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia aims to
achieve key compromises on the EU’s climate
and energy package ahead of the European
Council meeting from December 11th-12th.
In stark contrast, today the UK's independent
Committee on Climate Change recommended
that the UK should reduce its greenhouse
gas emissions by 42% from 11000 levels by
2020, a world beating target that the committee
considers affordable and achievable despite
the economic downturn. The Committee's recommendations
will inform a legally binding limit to be
set under the brand new UK Climate Change
Act, which already requires emissions to
be cut by at least 80% by 2050.
Referencing the UK example,
WWF calls on Central and Eastern European
countries to adopt similar targets and agree
on ambitious climate policies for the EU.
Poland, which hosts
both this summit and the crucial UN climate
change talks being held in Poznan from December
1st-12th, was singled out for particular
attention and encouraged to propose a position
consistent with its Presidency role in Poznan.
“There is a unique opportunity
for eastern European countries to decide
if they want to belong to the group of leaders
moving to a low carbon economy, or to the
countries lagging behind with economies
stuck in the past,” says Delia Villagrasa,
Senior Advisor to WWF.
“The host of the UN
conference has the obligation to propose
measures that will deliver us a safer climate
future.”
So far, the Polish government
has claimed that the EU climate package
will harm its economy, claims that WWF argues
are unsubstantiated.
“Poland already benefits
from targets allowing for increased emissions
and will get extra support from the auctioning
revenues of pollution permits under the
EU Emissions Trading Scheme, which it can
use to make energy and housing infrastructure
more efficient. But much of eastern Europe
has been opposed to full auctioning of pollution
permits”, said Villagrasa.
Eastern European countries
can also use the upcoming EU budget negotiations
to ensure that billions allocated to them
are substantially used for energy efficiency
measures, which will increase living standards
and alleviate fuel poverty. It is not about
lack of money, but of political will,” said
Villagrasa.
The 27 member States
of the EU have a historic responsibility
for greenhouse gas emissions and must therefore
play a leading role in fighting climate
change. Many eastern European nations in
particular have elevated emissions levels.
Bulgaria and Romania have CO2 intensity
per GDP unit ten times higher than the EU
average; Czech and Estonian per capita emissions
are higher than the majority of other EU
countries; Lithuania displayed the second
highest increase of emissions in the power
sector between 2000-2006.
With regard to Hungary,
WWF urges the government to abandon its
demand to be compensated for emissions reductions
which were due to the fall of the iron curtain
and subsequent economic changes. Hungary
should stop plans to fund new inefficient
coal power plants with unabated emissions.
Central and Eastern
European countries have an enormous opportunity
to cut greenhouse gas emissions through
untapped potential for energy efficiency
and use of renewable energy. Committing
to the EU climate package now will increase
industrial competitiveness, reduce dependency
on foreign energy supplies, reduce household
energy bills and boost sustainable economic
development with jobs in new cleaner sectors.
“The French Presidency
must lead negotiations aiming at a strong
climate package. Nearby Gdansk, in Poznan,
the world will look at the European Union
to see if it will show leadership for a
global climate agreement for post-2012,”
said Damien Demailly, Climate Change Officer
at WWF France.
Notes to the editors
• Contrary to some claims, electricity prices
will not be driven up by the full auctioning
of emissions allowances under the EU ETS,
according to a study carried out in the
Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary and Poland
by New Carbon Finance for WWF.
• The Gdansk Institute for Market Economics
has recently issue the report “Evaluation
of the 2030 Report, Impact of the European
Commission’s Energy and Climate Package
of 23 January 2008 on energy system, economy
and households in Poland”, Warsaw, November
2008
• Climate Action Network Europe, Friends
of the Earth Europe, Greenpeace and WWF
are running a public campaign to keep citizens
up-to-date with the discussions on the EU
climate package and their implications for
average global temperatures. At www.timetolead.eu
citizens can take action by asking their
leaders to support measures consistent with
their commitment to keep global warming
below 2°C.
Delia Villagrasa, Senior Advisor to WWF
Claudia Delpero, Communications Manager
at WWF European Policy Office
+ More
WWF calls on governments
to crack the climate nut
01 Dec 2008 - Poznan,
Poland: As UN climate talks enter their
next round in Poznan, WWF calls on governments
to ensure that the conference shifts the
climate negotiations into a much faster
gear by producing first real negotiation
texts. A final version of the treaty is
due end of 2009.
According to the global
conservation organization, conditions for
making progress in the global fight against
climate change have never been more favourable
than at this meeting.
“Barack Obama promises
to lead the US with an ambitious climate
agenda, and large emerging economies are
making first moves to cut domestic emissions”,
says Kim Carstensen, Leader of the WWF Global
Climate Initiative. “Negotiators arriving
in Poznan today never had a better chance
to crack the climate nut and overcome the
deadlock between developed and developing
countries.”
WWF activists are welcoming
delegates with nuts and nutcrackers to highlight
that progress lies in their hands and is
easily achievable. Negotiators should translate
political will and promising ideas for climate
solutions into texts that are fair and ambitious
enough to keep global warming below the
danger-threshold of 2°C.
“Industrialized country
leaders can write history and lay the groundwork
for success by committing to emission cuts
of at least 25 to 40% by 2020”, says Kathrin
Gutmann, Head of Policy at the WWF Global
Climate Initiative. “To avoid the climate
catastrophe governments must join forces
to peak and decline global emissions well
before 2020 and agree measures now for this
target to remain feasible.”
Strong proposals for
the architecture of the future climate regime
which are already lying on the negotiation
table should be fleshed out in Poznan. More
importantly, financial support pledges by
industrialized countries for mitigation
and adaptation efforts in developing countries
must increase – a crucial prerequisite for
the developing world to sign onto a global
climate treaty.
“The current finance
crunch was the result of ignoring major
risks, so let’s not repeat this mistake
by ignoring even bigger risks from climate
change”, says Kim Carstensen. “Delaying
the funding for emission reduction efforts
and adaptation activities in developing
countries will only make things worse.”
Please note: The WWF
action takes place outside the main entrance
of the UN Climate Change Conference venue
in Poznan on Monday, 1 December, from 7:30
AM to 10:30 AM. The WWF Position Paper Crack
the Climate Nut and other materials are
available at: http://www.panda.org/climate
Christian Teriete
