Ενημερωτικό Δελτίο της καμπάνιας των Ευρωπαίων Πράσινων για την κλιματική αλλαγή (Φεβρουάριος 2011)

The EU must step up to an emissions reduction target of at least 30% for 2020 through domestic action and increasing the domestic long-term target to at least 90% by 2050. The Commission’s suggestion to delay measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions instead of acting now will only make it more difficult and more expensive for the EU to achieve its longer term emissions targets, and will lead to EU consuming an unfair share of the global 2°C compatible cumulative carbon budget. Ambitious actions need to be implemented now to trigger innovation and reduce the cost of sustainable technologies.

Commission outlines energy efficiency plan
The Energy Efficiency Plan, which is meant to present how the EU target of reducing energy consumption 20% by 2020 can be achieved, fails to present any decisive action on energy efficiency. The fact that the word ‘Action’ has been left out from the title says everything. The plan contains good ideas but is far too vague. As the document relies on Member States’ own actions only, none of the measures proposed will ever fill the gap on energy efficiency.

Things would have been less time consuming and more efficient and the results much easier to monitor if the Commission had presented a binding target. By not favouring a community method and by failing to present early, concrete and above all measurable actions, the Commission put the EU in the wrong direction to start saving our climate.

EU Energy: No real move forward
On Friday 4th February the 27 Heads of State met to discuss Europe’s future energy policy. Although some key demands from the Greens/ EFA were mentioned in the conclusions of the Energy Summit – such as retaining the national support schemes for renewable energy and climate objectives with a clear reference to the IPCC’s conclusions – no clear stance has been taken on the necessity to make the 20% target for energy efficiency in 2020 binding.

No real concrete measures on reducing EU energy consumption were agreed upon either. The outcome of the energy Council – which took place on 28th February – was also disappointing. Energy ministers have failed to agree on a clear EU energy policy for the next 5 years and have been unable to propose any substantial proposals to deal with the oil crisis, or on renewables and energy efficiency.

Approval of a controversial free trade agreement with Korea
On 16th October the European Parliament voted in favour of the free trade agreement with Korea. The greens have expressed concerns about the far-reaching nature of the agreement, including provisions under which Korean car emissions rules have been manipulated to allow European car makers to export more gas guzzling cars to Korea.

Van emissions rules: a missed opportunity for innovation and climate
On 15th February the European Parliament adopted an agreement on new EU legislation aimed at limiting CO2 emissions from light commercial vehicles. But the final agreement is too weak – it will not stimulate the necessary green innovation from car makers or contribute significantly to EU efforts to prevent climate change.

Nuclear, what a waste!  Introducing our new nuclear waste website
In early November last year, the European Commission proposed a Directive on the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste from nuclear power plants. The Greens/EFA have criticized the proposal for being too weak and merely trying to bury the real concerns. To inform the public about the magnitude of the problem, the Group has launched its nuclear waste website “The Nuclear Waste Riddle“. It contains detailed information on the nuclear waste situation in different European countries as well as in the USA and Russia. For each country, it is possible to see the exact location of nuclear waste sites, how much nuclear waste there is and where it is stored for the time being.

China to reduce its GDP growth to curb emission
China has decided to try to slow GDP growth to ease pressure on the environment. Economic growth targets will be lowered from 8% to 7% over the next five years.

New UN ‘Green Economy Report’
The UN recently published its new report presenting new pathways to stimulate growth without rising emissions. The document says that investing two per cent of global GDP (around $1.3 trillion a year) into ten key sectors – agriculture, buildings, energy supply, fisheries, forestry, industry including energy efficiency, tourism, transport, waste management and water – could kick-start a transition towards a low carbon, resource efficient Green Economy and help reduce poverty.