Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-11-16-Speech-3-032"
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".
Madam President, I am particularly pleased to be given the opportunity to debate with you the recent developments surrounding climate change and the way in which the relevant policy of the European Union will be strengthened and the active involvement of all partners in productive international cooperation in this field will be achieved.
I agree with and support this approach; the initiatives taken by the Commission this year in the field of climate change mostly go hand in hand with Parliament's proposal.
Allow me to make a brief general remark: in October, the Commission marked the beginning of a new era in the European programme on climate change at a major conference in Brussels which was attended by the main actors in the sector. The new European programme on climate change will be a new framework for the policy which we exercise on climate change beyond 2012.
We address a series of new issues, such as aviation, and we also turn our attention to new technologies, such as carbon capture, which offer opportunities for taking financially efficient measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
As a first step, the Commission is setting up certain working parties. They include the working party which will review the progress made to date in implementing policies on climate change, the working party which will investigate carbon capture and storage in geological formations as a means of moderating climate change, the working party which will evaluate the integration of aviation into the Community greenhouse gas trading scheme, the working party which will prepare the review of the Community strategy on reducing emissions of carbon dioxide from light commercial vehicles and the working party which will determine the necessary political adjustments which the European Union needs to follow.
Each of these working parties will determine specific new fields in which the European Union can step up its action to combat climate change. The first of these working parties is expected to start submitting its final reports during the first half of next year.
As Mrs Beckett said, the Commission has also adopted a Green Paper on energy efficiency. Similarly, I should like to refer to the Commission communication entitled 'Reducing the climate change impact of aviation'. Aviation is making an increased contribution to emissions of greenhouse gases. The Communication arrives at the conclusion that, in order to reduce these emissions, the best way is to integrate the aviation sector into the Community emissions trading scheme. Following consultations with the interested parties, the Commission intends to submit the relevant legislative proposal by the end of 2006.
Of course, the Commission's initiatives are not confined solely to developing action within the European Union. We take an active part in discussions with third countries and seek their opinion on the next steps which need to be taken during future negotiations on climate and on the creation of new structures to strengthen our political dialogue and technological cooperation.
Climate change and, in particular, its connections with energy and the secure supply of energy, are included in the priorities of our bilateral and multilateral contacts. In this sector, we are cooperating closely with the British Presidency which, as Mrs Beckett said earlier, has placed climate change very high on the agenda for the G8 summit in Gleneagles and has constantly placed the issue of climate change on its list of priorities.
The results are encouraging. The agreement on the partnership between the European Union and China on climate change and energy provides the political framework for closer cooperation and dialogue on these issues. The main objective of the EU-China partnership is to develop advanced, almost zero-emission, carbon technology based on carbon capture and storage in biological formations. Its other objectives are to promote other clean energy sources and energy efficiency, energy savings and renewable sources of energy.
The EU-India initiative on clean development and climate change makes provision for various initiatives in order to develop dialogue. It emphasises cooperation on the development and evaluation of clean technologies, on the necessary adjustments to the heating of the planet and on the clean development mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol.
Today's debate is particularly important in the run-up to the forthcoming meeting of the parties in Montreal, which will be marked by the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol and discussions about the system to combat climate change after 2012.
The UN Climate Change Conference will start in Montreal in Canada at the end of the month and will last two weeks. The Commission has participated actively in a series of unofficial meetings to prepare for the Montreal conference. Our activities, both in the European Union and on the international stage, have played a serious role in shaping the conditions for the success of this conference. What are our objectives in Montreal?
Firstly, the conference will mark the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol, with the adoption of the rules and procedures required for its application. Within this framework, it is important for us to demonstrate that the European Union is responding to its commitments.
Secondly, the intensive dialogue held over recent months has created important momentum, so that at the Montreal conference the debate will start at international level on the shape of the future international climate change strategy.
However, the achievement of the above objectives is not a foregone conclusion. A small number of countries, headed by the United States, continue to be unwilling to participate in the dialogue on the future global strategy relating to climate change. We shall need to step up our efforts over coming weeks, so that these countries also cooperate in starting the dialogue.
It is also important for us to realise that the Montreal conference will not be the end of the procedure; it will mark the beginning of the dialogue but it will not provide the solution. The solution will only be found through an intensive international debate over coming years. Through this dialogue, we need to find the solutions that will respond to the basic elements of the future climate strategy, as determined in the Commission's communication earlier this year. These elements are reflected in Parliament's motion for a resolution: broader participation, coverage of all sectors and all gases, strengthening the development and use of new technologies, using means based on market mechanisms and finally, policies to adjust to the consequences of the increase in the heating of the planet.
To close, if there is to be a positive outcome from the dialogue, there must continue to be active political interest in the issue of climate change and the leading role of the European Union must be strengthened. We need to demonstrate that we can reduce our emissions and that this contributes towards our economic development. The motion for a resolution sends out a clear message that, in meeting this challenge, the Commission can always count on the support of the European Parliament.
We have all been worried by the recent succession of disasters. We had a serious drought on the Iberian Peninsular this summer, we had floods during the summer in central Europe, we had a series of hurricanes – Katrina, Rita, Wilma – and other smaller-scale disasters.
2005 has already achieved an unprecedented record, in that 2005 was the year with the highest number of named tropical cyclones since records began. Although specific weather phenomena cannot be connected directly to climate change, the increase in the phenomena of droughts and floods and the more serious and more frequent hurricanes or tropical storms nonetheless confirm scientific warnings about climate change.
The earth has probably never in its history heated up as quickly as it has over the last 30 years. The 1990s were the hottest decade and nine of the ten hottest years in history fell between 1995 and 2004, with the hottest in 1998. Scientists are expressing fears that 2005 may ultimately be the hottest year in history.
As we all know, when the planet heats up, the sea also heats up and when the temperature of the sea exceeds 26°C, then a tropical cyclone is likely to develop. The temperature at the surface of the sea has increased at global level over the last 100 years to 0.6%, which means that we shall probably have much more frequent and stronger cyclones in future.
Nonetheless, rather than determining the extent to which hurricane Katrina or other weather phenomena were caused by human activity, it is more important that we draw lessons from these weather phenomena, so that we can win the battle against climate change.
I should like to refer in particular to Parliament's motion for a resolution on the communication entitled 'Winning the battle against global climate change' and I should like to thank in particular the rapporteur, Mr Wijkman, and the members of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, the Committee on Development and the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy for their valuable and specific proposals.
The motion for a resolution emphasises that the Community strategy for restricting climate change must be based on an approach which includes the following: building on key elements of the Kyoto Protocol, strong reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases in the European Union, the participation of all the main countries, such as the United States, the development of a strategic partnership with developing countries of crucial importance, vigorously promoting research and innovation and improving energy efficiency in the European Union."@en1
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