Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 8 • Number 22 • 15th December 2008
Europe Closes Deal on Climate Change
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European leaders have clinched an energy-climate deal as a part of their attempts to be a global leader on the issue. French President Nicholas Sarkozy ushered in the agreement - at the 12 December high-level meeting targeting climate change and the financial crises - as one of his final feats during the six-month French EU presidency.
The agreement basically built on a package set forth at the beginning of this year (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 25 January 2008, http://ictsd.net/i/news/biores/9354/) in which the EU committed itself to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 percent by 2020 as compared to 1990 levels, and to deriving 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources. The European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) serves as a key tool for achieving the target.
On adopting the package, the European leaders declared that it “underlines the vital importance of achieving the strategic objective of limiting the global average temperature increase to not more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels. [The European Council] stresses the need for decisive and immediate action, in order for the challenges of climate change to be tackled effectively. International collective action will be critical in driving an effective, efficient and equitable response in the scale required to face climate change challenges.”
Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the EU Commission, said for his part that “Europe has today passed its credibility test. We mean business when we talk about climate.”
Concessions made to Eastern Europe, heavy industry
However, the newly adopted package was watered down on several accounts due to strong opposition in particular from Eastern European countries heavily dependent on coal, such as Poland. Also, pressure from Western countries concerned by the impact of potential job losses due to the financial downturn, especially Germany and Italy, resulted in a less ambitious agreement than some had hoped for.
The main changes were made to the ETS, allowing heavy industry, fearful of competition from countries not bound by strong climate targets, to get the lion’s share of their emissions permits for free for a longer period than originally envisioned. Further, instead of having to buy 100 percent of their permits in 2020, they will now only have to buy 70 percent, and Eastern European power generators will get their permits at a special discount.
Responses at Poznan
The European agreement was largely welcomed in Poznan, Poland, at the simultaneous international climate change negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC; see related story, this issue). UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said “It shows the world that ambitious emission reduction goals by 2020 are in line with moving economic recovery in a green direction.
Ed Miliband, UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary, also underlined the international dimensions of the deal. “This will contribute to propelling the world towards a strong, ambitious and ratifiable outcome in Copenhagen in 2009,” he said, adding that “combined with the spirit of engagement from President-elect Obama, there is now everything to play for as we put the pieces in place for a global climate deal in Copenhagen next December.”
Green outcry
Not all were as positive, however. A green coalition comprising the WWF Europe, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Oxfam and Climate Action Network strongly condemned the package, saying it was full of loopholes and concessions to industry. “Industry has to do next to nothing,” stressed Claude Turmes, a Green MEP from Luxembourg. “If they are honest, these leaders know they haven’t agreed something really ambitious.”
The fact that heavy industry is given permits for free is particularly controversial, as they are likely to make major windfall profits from the ETS. Green groups have also questioned the fact that Europeans will be able to buy large volumes of permits abroad, and want to see a clear plan for channelling ETS profits to urgent adaptation and mitigation project in developing countries.
The energy and climate package must still be ratified by the European Parliament this week to become legally binding. Green groups are calling on the Parliament to reject it.
”European Leaders Agree on Climate Change Plan,” ENS, 12 December 2008; “EU leaders agree stimulus, climate change deals,” DEUTCHE WELLE, 13 December 2008; “EU leaders claim historic agreement on cutting pollution,” GUARDIAN, 13 December 2008; “EU accused of subsidising climate change after ‘watered-down’ deal,” THE INDEPENDENT, 13 December 2008; “EU hails climate deal as example for the world,” AP, 12 December 2008.
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[...] emissions by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 15 December 2008, http://ictsd.net/i/news/biores/36368/ ). The Europeans have however made their agreement conditional to the successful conclusion of a [...]