Climate campaign newsletter: Issue 44 – May 2011
GREEN EYE ON THE EU’S CLIMATE EFFORT
– ENVI Parliament committee backed 30% CO2 cut
– Climate Commissioner wants renewable energy targets for 2030
– Nuclear industry gets a stress- free ride
– Irresponsible ITRE vote on nuclear waste management
– Germany wants nuclear shutdown by 2022
ROUND-UP – CLIMATE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
– Japan to increase renewable power
– Australia’s climate report: the Government seeks public support for its carbon tax
– India to add another mission to its climate change action plan
WHAT’S ON
– Calendar of some key events in June
GREEN EYE ON THE EU’S CLIMATE EFFORT
ENVI Parliament committee backed 30% CO2 cut
Despite a first rather disappointing vote in the industrial committee, MEPs in the European Parliament’s environment committee backed an extension of the EU’s 2020 emissions reduction target from 20% to 30% in a vote on 24 May. They called for a minimum reduction of at least 25% domestically and asked the Commission to put forward a proposal by the end of this year. They also supported the idea of setting aside 1,4 billion allowances from the EU ETS prior to 2020 for maintaining incentives in the ETS and to ensure the level of stringency foreseen when the EU climate package was adopted in 2009. The Plenary vote will now take place on 23 June.
There is now growing support for a 30% target among several businesses as well as a certain number of EU environment ministers. In mid May the British government even announced its decision to halve its 1990 greenhouse gas emission level within 14 years – if the EU takes similar action. The UK hopes that such a move will help the country to position itself as a leading player in the global low-carbon economy, creating significant new industries and jobs. EU Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard warmly praised the decision.
In the meantime, the International Energy Agency revealed that greenhouse gas emissions increased by a record amount last year, despite the most serious global recession for 80 years. But the data should not destroy hope to be able to limit global warming to below 2°. It should instead put additional pressure on our decision makers to agree to stronger international action and global targets.
Climate Commissioner wants renewable energy targets for 2030
At a policy conference organised by EREC in Brussels on 24th May, the EU Climate Commissioner announced that she is willing to open the debate on extending the existing 20% renewables target. The Commission could come up with a proposal this year.
A higher target would help unlock investment in renewable energy beyond 2020 and enable the EU to come closer to its goal of reducing carbon emissions by 80-95% by 2050 from 1990 levels. The move would also weaken the strong lobbying efforts by the gas industry, which is trying to rebrand gas as a cheaper ‘green’ alternative to renewables.
Nuclear industry gets a stress- free ride
At the end of June European nuclear regulators finally reached an agreement on the criteria for ‘stress testing’ the EU’s 143 nuclear power plants following the Fukushima disaster in Japan. The tests will begin on 1 June and final results will be published in April next year. Details of security measures to prevent terrorist attacks will be reviewed separately and remain confidential.The Greens/ EFA group called on EU Energy Commissioner Oettinger to reject the compromise on the criteria for the planned nuclear stress tests from the European Nuclear Safety Regulator Group and asked that these tests include terrorist attacks, plane crashes and other man-made events. But pro-nuclear EU States opposed the idea and key safety risks such as terrorist attacks will finally not be part of the core stress tests and dealt with separately by national security experts…In the meantime, under pressure from growing anti-nuclear sentiment, the Swiss government has proposed a complete phase-out by 2034.
Irresponsible ITRE vote on Nuclear waste management
On 26th May the European Parliament energy committee voted on a proposal on EU rules regarding nuclear waste. Members voted for the cheapest, and not the safest, option for dealing with dangerous nuclear waste and voted in favour of allowing its exportation to third countries. MEPs also rejected a demand from the Greens/ EFA group to ban the storage of nuclear waste in risky zones such as in seismic areas. Sadly, the text was adopted with a large majority with 31 votes in favour, seven against and ten abstentions. The full assembly will vote on the final report at the end of June.
Germany wants nuclear shutdown by 2022
On Monday 30th May Germany announced that it will definitively shut down all of its nuclear power plants by 2022 at the latest.
The eight oldest of Germany’s 17 nuclear reactors will be kept shut permanently. Seven were closed temporarily in March, just after the tragic earthquake and tsunami in Japan. One has been off the grid for years. Another six would be taken offline by 2021, while the remaining three most recent reactors would stay open until 2022.
The move is said to be definite despite that some politicians had asked for a clause allowing for more flexibility or for the agreement to be revised in future.
The final decision now rests with Germany’s Parliament.
ROUND-UP – CLIMATE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Japan to increase renewable power
At a meeting of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris Prime Minister Naoto Kan declared that Japan will review its plans to expand its nuclear industry and aim to generate at least 20 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by the 2020s. The government has also called for curbs in electricity use by 15 percent from 1 July for two months in areas covered by Tokyo Electric, known as Tepco, in the capital and the surrounding region, and by Tohoku Electric Power Co, in the devastated northeast region.
The country will nevertheless continue to rely on nuclear power but no data has been given about the share this would represent in the country’s energy mix.
Australia’s climate report: the Government seeks public support for its carbon tax
Australia’s ‘Climate Commission’, an independent team of top scientists, has recently released its report titled ‘The Critical Decade’ saying that global warming is real and showing how the country is and will be further affected by it in the future.
To drive investment into greener energy, the Australian government has proposed imposing a price on every tonne of carbon emissions from major polluters from 2012. Full market trading of those emissions, in the form of permits, could start as early as 2015. But the proposal does not get much public support: opinion polls say some 60 percent of voters oppose a carbon tax, with only 30 percent in favor.
India to add another mission to its climate change action plan
India has decided to expand its domestic action plan to limit the growth of greenhouse gases by adding a ninth mission — clean coal or clean carbon initiatives — to its National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) that was launched in 2008. At the moment the plan’s eight missions deal with solar power, energy efficiency, water, sustainable habitat, Himalayas, afforestation, agriculture and strategic knowledge.
WHAT’S ON
6–17 June UN climate change conference , Bonn
10 June Energy Council, Luxembourg
17 June Environment Council, Luxembourg
23 – 24 June European Council, Brussels
An idea? A remark? A suggestion? Please feel free to drop us an email at greens.stopclimatechange@europarl.europa.eu. Thanks in advance for your comments!