Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-04-01-Speech-4-203"
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"en.20040401.5.4-203"2
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"Mr President, it looks very much as if the Kyoto Protocol will not necessarily enter into force. Nevertheless, under international law the Kyoto Protocol will be binding on its signatories for several years. During this time it cannot be altered, meaning the Kyoto process will remain much too static.
Climate change, however, is a real threat, and for that reason the action taken to resist it should be seen as tough and dynamic. One way is to analyse the EU’s former policies, which in most sectors have already successfully made economic growth independent of any increase in emissions. This has come about when the actions have decentralised, forming a variety of effective policies that create a dynamic, and even positive side effects for the environment and society. These should now be strengthened and applied to other sectors. Above all, this should now be applied globally. The Bonn conference will be the first step.
The United Nations environment programmes should be granted the authority they need and resistance to climate change should be split up into areas of action to promote energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy and clean technology. This would also create the dynamic needed for change to take place.
Such an approach would also give the United States of America and Russia a new opportunity to be involved and participate in action to reduce greenhouse gases. Within the framework of the UN clear global structures should be created for the carbon economy and a price for carbon dioxide established, while at the same time there is vigorous promotion of market-based incentives to cut emissions. Similarly, the incredible rate at which emissions are increasing in China and India must be cut within the framework of the UN.
Keeping to the Kyoto targets is vital, but it should be possible to quickly acknowledge the adverse effects of the Kyoto process and control them. Otherwise the agreement will go against the aims of sustainable development. The EU has shown great courage as a pioneer, but one also has to have courage to admit one’s mistakes, if any have been made. With Kyoto it would seem that the biggest mistake concerns carbon leakage, which threatens to come into existence, when production switches to countries unaffected by the Kyoto targets. ‘The polluter pays’ principle is thus changing to the ‘the polluter is paid’ practice.
Furthermore, with renewable energy sources there is a danger of slogans going to our heads and of us not being very realistic. The investment in research into the promotion of renewables is already excessive, and Parliament is again prepared to increase its minimum share. Most renewables still come from large hydroelectric power stations, and people are not ready to add more.
You cannot push on a cord; you have to pull it, as the Finnish saying goes. Investment in research will not help any more, but global demand would. That is why we must do our best at Bonn to draw people’s attention to the issue of global demand."@en1
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