Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-01-18-Speech-2-172"
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"en.20000118.6.2-172"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, I second all those who expressed their solidarity with the storm victims. I would just like to point again to the impact on the forestry industry throughout Europe. For the storms will have major implications for the forestry industry in all areas of Europe, and I believe we need, in the long-term, to give thought to how problems of this kind are to be dealt with in future. We certainly do not want market organisation for forests, but maybe we should set up a system, perhaps in conjunction with the private insurance sector, which will make it possible to mitigate the implications for the victims in some way.
Unfortunately, we can expect there to be repeat performances of this kind of major disaster in the future. As has already been mentioned here, there are indications – no proof, but clear indications – that the increase in storms world-wide has to do with the climate catastrophe. Of course, the scientists do not all see eye to eye on this yet, but the majority of them are fairly convinced that if we continue to emit greenhouse gases as we are doing, these storms will, of course, hit us much harder still at the dawn of this new century. I believe now is the right time for us to think back once again to a proposal put forward in this Chamber by a former fellow MEP of ours, Tom Spencer. He suggested that rather than giving storms the names of men or women, we should name them after the perpetrators of the greenhouse effect – he proposed the oil companies at the time. However, an exception should certainly be made in the case of Shell and BP, for they have changed policy and do not just base their sales on fossil fuels which are damaging to the climate, rather they also invest in forms of energy that have future viability. We must be aware of this connection; I do not support those who make sweeping statements to the effect that the greenhouse effect is to blame for this storm, but one thing we can be relatively certain of is that we have reason to fear further catastrophes if we do not soon alter our course!"@en1
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