23 January 2008
- Brussels, Belgium — The EU is pushing
ahead with measures to boost adoption of
renewable energy and cut carbon emissions.
Although they still don't go far enough,
they are a step in the right direction.
Of course, we have been telling politicians
all along that only renewable technologies
such as wind and solar power, alongside
improving energy efficiency, are the only
real solution to climate change. The penny
dropped last year, when the EU announced
that by 2020, a fifth of all energy would
come from renewable sources.
Governments were quick
to show their green credentials by signing
up but now we want to see action to make
sure the target is achieved.
Large energy companies
lobbied hard to introduce a virtual trading
system for renewable energy that would undermine
the broad development of renewable energy
technologies. Luckily these efforts to derail
effective renewables support failed.
Now the European Commission
has published targets setting out the amount
of renewable energy each country must generate
to ensure that the EU goal is met. The push
on renewables is just one part of a wider
package to tackle climate change. They have
also released a breakdown of how much each
country needs to cut their carbon emissions
by to make good the EU's promise to achieve
a 20 percent cut by 2020.
30 per cent carbon emissions
reductions are needed
So far, so good. But
whilst these measures show that the EU is
thinking along the right lines, the targets
themselves simply aren't ambitious enough.
The EU targets fall
short of what is needed to ensure that global
warming is kept below 2 degrees Celsius,
what scientists agree would be the tipping
point for Earth's climate.
And it isn't just environmental
organisations that are saying this. Scientists
agree that a 20 percent cut in emissions
just isn’t enough, and the European Commission
themselves have openly admitted that it
falls short of what is needed.
If the EU really wants
to show leadership on climate change they
need to set realistic targets to cut emissions
– and that means a 30 percent reduction
by 2020.
EU carbon credits system
still flawed
The climate proposals
also set out new rules for emissions trading.
The EU set up the Emissions Trading Scheme
in 2005 to tackle emissions from industry.
It means that companies have to either reduce
their emissions or buy carbon credits from
other companies.
The EU has suggested
ways to fix some major flaws in the existing
scheme, but again they've caved into industry
pressure and pulled back from making the
scheme as effective as it needs to be.
Companies will still
be given at least 40 percent of the carbon
permits that are available for free in 2013.
This is no good. If the scheme is to have
any real teeth we need to make sure that
the polluter pays and that the real cost
of carbon is accurately reflected.
The EU's climate package
is a good start but if Europe really is
to show bold leadership on climate change
they need to go much further.
