23/03/2005 - The European
Council set a new benchmark for international
efforts to combat climate change, by agreeing
that industrialized countries should reduce
their greenhouse gas emissions by up to 30
percent by 2020 compared to emissions in 11000,
WWF said today.
“EU leaders today have set the stage for
global negotiations starting later this year
about how to reduce climate pollution in the
longer term,” said Dr Stephan Singer, Head
of WWF’s European Climate and Energy Programme
in Brussels.
“The leaders now need to follow up in their
own countries. If such reductions were implemented
in Europe, they would help the EU combat climate
change, increase the EU’s energy security
and create a lean and efficient economy.”
Key decisions in the next few months include
an agreement on stronger energy efficiency
legislation; a decision to increase the share
of renewable energy sources (such as wind
and biomass) to 25 per cent by 2020; and a
strengthening of the EU’s Emission Trading
System so that dirty coal power plants are
taken out of business.
EU leaders also confirmed the organization’s
commitment to keep the maximum increase in
global average temperatures to no more than
2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
According to a recent economic assessment
by the European Commission, the benefits of
additional action in the EU to fight against
climate change will outweigh the perceived
costs, while the cost of non-action will be
much higher.
