Yesterday
the EU Energy Council pushed the renewable
energy Directive to the finishing line.
The final text, confirmed today in negotiations
with the EU Parliament, enshrined the 20%
target for renewable energy in Europe by
2020. The goal includes binding national
targets for each EU country. EU Member States
will also have to improve access to energy
networks for renewables.
“Despite France and
Italy’s pressure to undermine the Directive
by including revision clauses, in the field
of renewables the EU has truly taken a step
forward. This has tremendous potential for
job creation, technology development and
improvements to the security of energy supply
besides the clear benefits to tackle climate
change,” said Delia Villagrasa, Senior Advisor
to WWF.
“The same principles
should now inspire EU leaders to improve
the other Directives of the climate package
to make it groundbreaking.”
Delia Villagrasa, Senior Advisor to WWF
Claudia Delpero, Communications Manager
at WWF European Policy Office
+ More
Open letter to EU President
Nicolas Sarkozy on EU climate package
09 Dec 2008 - As the
European Council meeting this week will
finalise Europe’s response to climate change
for the next 12 years, environmental NGOs
- WWF, die Klima Allianz (Germany) and Reseau
Action Climat (RAC-France) - have written
an open letter to EU President Nicolas Sarkozy,
also addressed to Angela Merkel, Silvio
Berlusconi and Donald Tusk, calling for
their leadership to agree a strong package
of measure to tackle climate change.
The appeal targeting
particularly French President Sarkozy and
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is published
in the form of an advert on the Financial
Times, International Herald Tribune, European
Voice, Le Monde, Les Echos, Le Figaro, Handelsblatt,
Frankfurter Allgemeine, Süddeutsche
and the Financial Times Deutschland.
"Which direction
will you choose on climate change?
The decisions that will
be adopted at this week’s European Council
meeting will not only affect the future
of Europe, but of the world.
You have the opportunity
now to ensure Europe will contribute its
fair share to keeping global warming well
below the 2°C threshold above which
we face catastrophic climate change. But
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 over half 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%.
When combined with a
lack of mandatory support for substantial
climate protection funding to flow to developing
countries, the result could be an EU climate
and energy package that rocks the very core
of the fragile discussions currently underway
to reach a global deal to tackle global
warming.
As President of the
European Council, you have the opportunity
to demonstrate a leadership role by turning
the EU climate and energy package negotiations
around.
In particular we challenge
you to convince German Chancellor Angela
Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk that
it is in Europe’s interest to take strong
action to address climate change now.
To demonstrate credibility,
the EU must reduce greenhouse gas emissions
by at least 30% by 2020.
To claim any role of
leadership, you must ensure that:
• Emissions reductions
take place within the borders of Europe
and there are penalties for countries that
do not meet their targets.
• The EU commits to provide financial assistance
to help poorer countries reduce their emissions
and adapt to the already inevitable impacts
of climate change.
• The new Emissions Trading Scheme provides
that all emissions permits are purchased
by the polluters – ‘the polluter pays’ principle.
Exemptions are only acceptable for those
industries that can credibly prove that
they face serious competitive disadvantages,
which is clearly not the case for the power
sector.
A strong EU climate
and energy package can create more than
2.5 million sustainable European jobs by
2020 and offer greater energy security by
reducing demand through increased energy
efficiency and more use of renewable energy.
Don’t fail us in your
leadership of the EU and in agreeing a strong
package of measures to tackle climate change
by selling out to the self-interests of
the biggest climate polluters.
Choose to keep global
warming below 2°C.
Choose a safer climate future."
To take action, visit: www.timetolead.eu
