WWF-UK: EU must set bar higher on climate change
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EU must set bar higher on climate change
Wednesday 23 January 2008
The European Commission has presented draft laws to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Europe by only 20% by 2020, compared to 1990 levels.
WWF believes that the target could have been more ambitious and should have aimed at a 30% reduction, in line with what was decided at the European Council of March 2007 and with the EU's objective of keeping global average temperature from rising by more than 2ºC.
"As a global leader on climate change, the European Union should be planning for success, not failure, in the international negotiations to cut climate pollution," says Keith Allott, Head of Climate Change at WWF-UK. "The European Commission presented a relatively weak proposal and not a single European country has supported more ambitious targets. The proposed 20% reduction by 2020 is a meagre effort - especially when set against a threat that might lead to Arctic melting and displacement of millions of people in developing countries."
Dr. Dan Barlow, WWF Scotland's Acting Director added: "Scotland is blessed with fantastic renewable energy resources and is in fact well-placed to exceed the target achieving a fifth of energy provision from renewable resources today announced by the EU.
"But to do so we need support from the Scottish Government to match the progress we have made on renewable electricity with progress to develop renewable sources of heat.
"In addition, the Scottish Climate Change Bill, due to go out for consultation shortly, offers a terrific opportunity to put in place a legal framework for exceeding the EU's target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020. WWF is calling for annual emissions cuts of at least 3% to ensure we put ourselves on a path to effective reduction."
WWF says that the Commission's focus on the 20% emission reduction target assumes that no effective international agreement will be reached at the UN conference in Copenhagen at the end of 2009. The 20% target is not in line with the recent agreement at the UN conference in Bali - that developed countries should cut emissions by 25 to 40% by 2020.
Europe's emissions are already 10 % below 1990 levels, mainly because of the economic restructuring in Eastern European countries in the 1990s. WWF is calling for drastic improvements to the package of measures to be made by the European Parliament and Council.
Similarly, the proposals don't fully address the issue of awarding pollution permits to carbon-intensive industries under the Emissions Trading Scheme for free. Despite that fact that the power sector will have to buy all its allowances from 2013 onwards the proposal fails to make the same recommendation for sectors such as aviation - which may, as a result be able to make windfall profits from the scheme.
WWF has repeatedly requested that full auctioning of pollution permits is used as a way to reward cleaner companies and provide funds for sustainable and clean energy development, as well as adaptation to climate change in poor countries.
On a positive note, WWF welcomes the target of achieving 20 % of energy from renewable sources. As a result of the effort sharing amongst the member states, today the UK has been given a new target from the EU demanding that by 2020 the UK must meet 15% of its primary energy demand with renewables.
Included in the overall renewables target is a 10% transport biofuels target. Biofuels have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to benefit both the EU and developing countries, provided they are produced in a sustainable way with preference being given to those fuels that offer strong greenhouse gas benefits across their lifecycle. The proposed certification system needs to be reinforced in order to make sure biofuels are produced sustainably and in compliance with social criteria.
WWF expects that the EU Parliament and Council will deal speedily with proposed laws using a fast-track approach. There is a real risk that dealing with the proposals as a single package could lead to very slow progress and undermine the EU's efforts to show international leadership. In particular, it is vital that the EU sets out a strong position well in advance of the critical UN climate summit at Copenhagen in 2009, where a new global deal must be reached for emissions reductions after 2012.
"As a global leader on climate change, the European Union should be planning for success, not failure, in the international negotiations to cut climate pollution," says Keith Allott, Head of Climate Change at WWF-UK. "The European Commission presented a relatively weak proposal and not a single European country has supported more ambitious targets. The proposed 20% reduction by 2020 is a meagre effort - especially when set against a threat that might lead to Arctic melting and displacement of millions of people in developing countries."
Dr. Dan Barlow, WWF Scotland's Acting Director added: "Scotland is blessed with fantastic renewable energy resources and is in fact well-placed to exceed the target achieving a fifth of energy provision from renewable resources today announced by the EU.
"But to do so we need support from the Scottish Government to match the progress we have made on renewable electricity with progress to develop renewable sources of heat.
"In addition, the Scottish Climate Change Bill, due to go out for consultation shortly, offers a terrific opportunity to put in place a legal framework for exceeding the EU's target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020. WWF is calling for annual emissions cuts of at least 3% to ensure we put ourselves on a path to effective reduction."
WWF says that the Commission's focus on the 20% emission reduction target assumes that no effective international agreement will be reached at the UN conference in Copenhagen at the end of 2009. The 20% target is not in line with the recent agreement at the UN conference in Bali - that developed countries should cut emissions by 25 to 40% by 2020.
Europe's emissions are already 10 % below 1990 levels, mainly because of the economic restructuring in Eastern European countries in the 1990s. WWF is calling for drastic improvements to the package of measures to be made by the European Parliament and Council.
Similarly, the proposals don't fully address the issue of awarding pollution permits to carbon-intensive industries under the Emissions Trading Scheme for free. Despite that fact that the power sector will have to buy all its allowances from 2013 onwards the proposal fails to make the same recommendation for sectors such as aviation - which may, as a result be able to make windfall profits from the scheme.
WWF has repeatedly requested that full auctioning of pollution permits is used as a way to reward cleaner companies and provide funds for sustainable and clean energy development, as well as adaptation to climate change in poor countries.
On a positive note, WWF welcomes the target of achieving 20 % of energy from renewable sources. As a result of the effort sharing amongst the member states, today the UK has been given a new target from the EU demanding that by 2020 the UK must meet 15% of its primary energy demand with renewables.
Included in the overall renewables target is a 10% transport biofuels target. Biofuels have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to benefit both the EU and developing countries, provided they are produced in a sustainable way with preference being given to those fuels that offer strong greenhouse gas benefits across their lifecycle. The proposed certification system needs to be reinforced in order to make sure biofuels are produced sustainably and in compliance with social criteria.
WWF expects that the EU Parliament and Council will deal speedily with proposed laws using a fast-track approach. There is a real risk that dealing with the proposals as a single package could lead to very slow progress and undermine the EU's efforts to show international leadership. In particular, it is vital that the EU sets out a strong position well in advance of the critical UN climate summit at Copenhagen in 2009, where a new global deal must be reached for emissions reductions after 2012.
