EU Summit: Summit deals serious blow to EU’s climate leadership
EU heads of state and government today reached agreement to seriously weaken the proposed 'climate package' of legislation. Commenting on the negotiations and the outcome, Green MEP and European Parliament draftsman for the EU's renewable energy legislation Claude Turmes said:
"After what can only be described as a free-for-all, EU governments have shamefully torn EU emissions reduction legislation to shreds, producing a lowest common denominator compromise. With each government acting as a lobbyist for its own polluting industries, the summit has seriously damaged this crucial legislation, dealing a serious blow to the EU's climate leadership. I hope the European parliament negotiators will do their utmost to repair the damage before the plenary vote takes place.
"EU governments have sent a disturbing signal to the international climate negations, using the economic downturn as an excuse to water-down climate policies, despite evidence that this is not in the interest of these economies. They are not willing to initiate the necessary policies but still expect developing countries, who are starting from an infinitely lower base of economic development, to do so.
"Considerable exemptions for industries (and even the power sector) from the auctioning of emissions permits under the emissions trading scheme, risk turning the scheme into a windfall profit generating machine for those industries - rather than acting as a real incentive to modernise the economy.
"EU leaders also approved increases to levels of external offsetting, so that a significant proportion of the emissions reduction effort (by industries and countries) will now be outsourced to be delivered in developing countries through the purchase of external offsets. This is not just scientifically unsound, it is ethically wrong. It implies a neo-colonial approach to climate policy by which the EU could cherry pick the cheapest climate mitigation potential in developing countries in order to prolong our own unsustainable model.
"The only really positive news from the summit is that the recent agreement on EU legislation for renewable energies has been maintained. This legislation will stimulate major investment in renewables, creating 2 million jobs and confirming EU leadership in what is a key industry of the 21st century.
"All is not lost. As part of an international agreement, it is clear that the EU will have to fulfil its commitment to increase the levels of its emissions reductions. This will also provide an opportunity to review the emissions reduction legislation (ETS and effort sharing), now set to be signed off, to make it more robust."
