20
Oct 2008 - Brussels, 20 October 2008 - Environmental
NGOs have today accused the EU Environment
Ministers of supporting old-fashioned, inefficient
and wasteful industries at the expense of
those that innovate and create new jobs.
During the discussion
on the EU climate and energy package, ministers
also watered down the emission reduction
proposal for non-industrial sectors, undermining
the best chance to help European households
suffering from high energy bills.
At the meeting of the
EU Environment Council today in Luxembourg
protectionism was the call of the day, with
ministers defending as a priority the short
term interests of a small portion of European
industry, rather than pushing to protect
European citizens from the most dangerous
impacts of climate change and put an end
to our dependency on expensive fossil fuels.
The ministers opened the door for free CO2
permits for electricity production and weakened
rules for free permits to manufacturing
industries.
Climate Action Network
Europe, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth
Europe and WWF said: “Today’s level of debate
was extremely poor and gave more room to
the opportunistic demands of the Polish
and Italian governments, who want to give
old fashioned, inefficient and wasteful
industries a free ride at the expense of
innovation and job creation. These positions
are particularly ironic since ministers
also expressed high hopes for the UN climate
summit next year in Copenhagen.”
One week after EU countries
agreed to release 2000 billion euros in
support of the financial sector, Environment
Ministers are backtracking on the 70-90
billion euros investments needed by 2020
to safeguard future generations through
the EU climate and energy package.
Italy and Poland fail
to grasp where Europe and the world’s future
lie and what unabated climate change will
cost the world. Furthermore the Polish government
has shown itself to be unfit to lead the
next international climate negotiations
taking place in December in Poznan. The
international community should actively
look for a new chair.
Delia Villagrasa - Senior Advisor at WWF
+ More
The heat is on – climate
change gathers pace faster than scientists
expected
20 Oct 2008 - Brussels,
Belgium – Global warming is accelerating
at a faster rate than climate change experts
had previously predicted, according to a
new compendium of scientific research released
today by WWF.
In 2007, the Nobel Prize
winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) released their Fourth Assessment
Report – a study of global warming that
involved nearly 4,000 scientists from more
than 150 countries.
However, the science
of climate change has moved on in the year
since this respected report was published.
WWF’s new report, “Climate change: faster,
stronger, sooner”, amalgamates this new
scientific data and reveals that global
warming is accelerating beyond the IPCC’s
forecasts.
The report has received
the support of climate change experts including
Professor Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, Professor
of Climatology and Environmental Sciences
at the Université catholique de Louvain,
Belgium, and newly elected Vice Chair of
the IPCC, who said: “It is clear that climate
change is already having a greater impact
than most scientists had anticipated, so
it’s vital that international mitigation
and adaptation responses become swifter
and more ambitious. The last IPCC report
has shown that the reasons for concern are
now stronger, and this should lead the EU
to plead for a lower temperature target
than the 2°C they adopted in 1996. But
even with a 2°C target, the IPCC says
that emission reductions between 25 and
40% compared to 11000 are needed by 2020
from developed countries. Reductions by
20% are therefore insufficient."
The latest science shows
that the Arctic Ocean is losing sea ice
up to 30 years ahead of IPCC predictions.
It is now predicted that the summer sea
ice could completely disappear between 2013
and 2040 – something that hasn’t occurred
in more than a million years.
Based on recent scientific
studies, the number and intensity of extreme
cyclones over the British Isles and the
North Sea are projected to increase, leading
to increased wind speeds and storm-related
losses over Western and Central Europe.
The level of ozone, an air pollutant, is
projected to be similar to that in the 2003
heat-wave, with major increases over England,
Belgium, Germany and France. Annual maximum
rainfall is also projected to increase in
most parts of Europe, with associated flood
risks and economic damages.
Marine ecosystems in
the North and Baltic Sea are being exposed
to the warmest temperatures measured since
records began, while the Mediterranean is
expected to experience increases in the
frequency of long-term droughts. Glaciers
in the Swiss Alps will continue to decrease,
with reduction of hydropower production.
At a global level, sea
level rise is expected to reach more than
double the IPCC’s maximum estimate of 0.59m
by the end of the century, putting vast
coastal areas at risk. Rising temperatures
have already led to a reduction in global
yields of wheat, maize and barley.
“If the European Union
wants to be seen as leader at UN talks in
Copenhagen next year, and to help secure
a strong global deal to tackle climate change
after 2012, then it must stop shirking its
responsibilities and commit to real emissions
cuts within Europe,” says Dr. Tina Tin,
Climate Scientist and author of the report.
WWF calls on the EU
to adopt an emission reduction target of
at least 30% below 11000 levels by 2020,
to be delivered within the boundaries of
the EU rather than relying heavily on offsetting
overseas. The global conservation organisation
also asks the EU to commit to providing
substantial support and funding for developing
countries, in order to help them tackle
future climate change and adapt to those
impacts that are already unavoidable.
“Climate change is a
major challenge to the future of mankind
and the environment, and this sobering overview
highlights just how critical it is that
EU Environment Ministers discussing the
EU legislations against climate change today
commit to a strong climate and energy package,
in order to ensure a low carbon future,”
said Dr. Tina Tin.
Delia Villagrasa, Senior Advisor to WWF
Claudia Delpero, Communications Manager
at WWF European Policy Office
