09
Dec 2008 - Brussels, Belgium – European
Heads of State and Government meeting at
the European Council this week will finalise
Europe’s response to climate change for
the next 12 years.
The EU credibility at
the international climate talks taking place
at the same time in Poznan, Poland, will
be judged by the decisions made on the EU
climate and energy package, so far the biggest
legislative effort on climate change in
the world.
WWF’s 7 make or break
tests for the EU climate and energy package
outstanding three legislative proposals
are:
For both the Effort Sharing and the EU Emissions
Trading Scheme Directives (ETS)
1. The ambition of the
EU’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction
target must increase from 20 to at least
30% once a global climate deal is agreed,
without complicated mechanisms which would
delay or limit the increase.
2. Reductions must be
achieved within Europe rather than through
the purchase of external credits. In the
Effort Sharing Directive, at present Council
proposes that close to two thirds (65.7%)
of the emission reductions, or more, can
be done externally. In the EU ETS there
is pressure to increase the 50% access agreed
for the 20% emission reduction scenario.
3. In order to get a
meaningful global international agreement
to tackle climate change, developed countries
need to put money on the table now to help
developing countries adapt to the already
inevitable impacts of climate change, to
reduce emissions and rates of deforestation.
In the EU, commitments need to be made in
this direction (in the ETS through for example
the setting aside of revenues from the auctioning
of pollution allowances).
4. On the Effort Sharing
Directive a binding compliance mechanism
must ensure that EU countries meet their
emission reduction targets.
5. On the EU ETS, auctioning
of pollution permits should apply for all
industries. Exemptions should only be made
to those that can credibly prove they suffer
competitive disadvantages. This is clearly
not the case of the power sector.
6. Also on the ETS,
a linear binding pathway for emission reductions
with signals provided beyond 2020 must be
maintained.
7. On Carbon Capture
and Storage, a technology neutral (e.g.
applicable to coal, but also to gas) limit
on emissions for power stations must be
introduced.
Open letters to Nicolas
Sarkozy and Angela Merkel – The need for
leadership
As a last resort to salvage the EU climate
package from heavy industry’s lobby to protect
their self-interests at the expenses of
a safer climate future, environmental groups
WWF, die Klima Allianz (Germany) and Reseau
Action Climat (RAC-France) have written
an open letter to EU President Nicolas Sarkozy.
NGOs call for him to show real leadership
and convince Germany, Italy and Poland that
it is in Europe’s interest to take strong
action to address climate change now.
“At a time when we need
Europe to lead, too many EU countries are
failing in their responsibilities to address
the threat of climate change. Inexcusably
several countries are trying to get out
of their own climate commitments by pushing
for two thirds of their reduction in greenhouse
gas emissions to be met by purchasing offset
credits from outside the EU. If approved,
it is possible that EU emissions would barely
fall by 2020 – with emissions from transport,
buildings and agriculture in particular
potentially only dropping by 3.5%,” says
the letter. EU countries are also proving
reluctant in providing support to developing
countries to adapt to the inevitable impacts
of climate change.
The appeal for a package
that contributes to keep global warming
below 2°C is being published on the
Financial Times, International Herald Tribune,
European Voice, Le Monde, Les Echos, Le
Figaro, Handelsblatt, Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung and the
Financial Times Deutschland.
The full letter is also
available here
Deal-blockers summit
in Warsaw
Today in Warsaw German Chancellor Angela
Merkel has met with Polish Prime Minister
Donald Tusk. On their agenda were discussions
on the climate package in preparation for
the European summit later this week.
"Angela Merkel
and Donald Tusk are trying to shoot huge
loopholes into the EU climate and energy
package", says Kim Carstensen, Leader
of the WWF Climate Initiative. "They
want to protect jobs by watering down their
climate commitments, but in reality a strong
European climate policy will strengthen
Europe’s competitiveness and create more
jobs, not less."
An international demonstration
to denounce the damaging positions of these
two countries has taken place outside the
meeting. A joint press release by WWF, Avaaz
and Greenpeace is available here
Unacceptable deal on
the “Effort Sharing” Directive
At the current stage of negotiations, the
worst part of the EU climate package is
the “Effort Sharing” Directive which covers
sectors not included in the EU Emissions
Trading Scheme, such as agriculture, transport
and households. The Directive is one of
the key elements of the package, representing
55% the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions.
“The Council has utterly
failed to compromise with the European Parliament,
making current proposals a meaningless joke.
If the Effort Sharing Directive goes through
as it stands, the EU credibility on climate
change will be totally undermined,” said
Delia Villagrasa, Senior Advisor to WWF.
“At the moment, the
compromise text fails on all tests, it does
not automatically allow a move to a 30%
emission reduction target after a global
climate deal, and it allows nearly two thirds
of the target to be met by the purchase
of off-set credits from outside the EU.
In addition, the Directive does not contain
any penalties for EU countries that fall
short on their targets and fails to provide
financial help to developing countries.”
As a result of this
race to the bottom, environmental groups
are asking the European Parliament to reject
the compromise, unless it is significantly
strengthened this week by EU Heads of State.
The joint press release by WWF, Climate
Action Network, Friends of the Earth Europe,
Greenpeace, and other NGOs is available
here
Emissions Trading Scheme
set to reward the polluters
Extreme industrial scaremongering has significantly
watered down attempts to improve this instrument
that was created to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions at the least cost for the economy.
Instead of improving its environmental integrity,
proposals to subsidise industry and coal-fired
power generation by continuing to hand out
free pollution allowances will reward the
largest polluters rather than making them
pay for the damage they are causing. This
happens when polluters pass through the
value of the free pollution allowances to
the price of the product bought by their
customers.
“Subsidising the largest
polluters is both immoral and counter-productive”
says Sanjeev Kumar, Emissions Trading Scheme
Coordinator at WWF.
“Free allocation makes
the EU Emissions Trading Scheme nothing
more than a cash bonanza for polluters and
leaves European households having to pay
for another market failure.”
Furthermore,
the less auctioning there is, the less money
will be generated that can be used to help
economies develop down a low carbon path
way, create long-term sustainable jobs,
adapt to the impacts of climate change and
reduce rates of deforestation.
Insignificant progress on carbon capture
and storage
The one significant move made by the European
Parliament on the Carbon Capture and Storage
(CCS) Directive – that is the introduction
of an emission ceiling (500gCO2/Kwh) for
all new power plants – is being rejected
by Council. This would have made conventional
polluting coal history. It shows once more
the lack of political will in putting limits
to emissions from the number one polluter
in the EU – coal, responsible alone for
a quarter of EU emissions. Financing of
CCS demo projects on the other hand is gaining
ground, with Parliament and Council inching
nearer to a compromise on the amount
of financing for CCS and other “innovative”
renewable and efficiency technologies.
