Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-11-16-Speech-3-063"
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"en.20051116.4.3-063"2
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".
I should like to thank everyone who has participated in this rich and important debate.
Mr Verges mentioned that we should take particular care of developing countries and their increasing needs arising from global warming. We really should prepare for that impact. The Commission is already providing funding and welcomes Canada's intention to prepare a five-year work programme on adaptation at the Conference in Montreal.
In addition, the European Union is the major contributor to the 2001 Bonn Political Declaration which pledges USD 410 million per year in climate change funding for developing countries, starting this year.
At the October Environment Council, Ministers committed themselves to communicating at Montreal the progress being made towards delivery on this target. Also, to support developing countries, we have to make sure that the clean development mechanisms actually work. The key issue is the efficiency of the executive board in Bonn, and the European Union is already providing funding, but more support is clearly necessary. The European Union is still the main contributor of funds to the executive board.
There have been certain concerns about bilateral cooperation outside the United Nations context, and especially in the Asia-Pacific Partnership. Let me stress that this can in no way be viewed as an alternative to the United Nations process. However, this Partnership can support our efforts under the Climate Change Convention and the Kyoto Protocol through closer bilateral cooperation that includes both a stronger political dialogue and a focus on technology. This is also how one should see the European Union-China and European Union-India partnerships. This translates into very concrete actions: we have recently held two workshops in India and China on the Clean Development Mechanism and market-based mechanisms. In relation to China, we also see an important focus on the development and demonstration of near-zero emissions power generation, and I agree with Mrs Beckett that carbon capture and storage is one of the means of tackling the problem of climate change. It is not a cure-all, but it is one of the many means that we can use. These partnerships will have the positive and immediate effect of supporting the discussions on a multilateral climate change regime post-2012.
Mr Blokland asked about the efficiency of the European Union's current measures. If we implement all the measures in full, this will lead to a 4% reduction compared with 1990, which obviously is not sufficient to meet the target of -8% that we have set for ourselves. That is why we included additional measures in the climate change programme that we launched a month ago. This implies that we should make greater emission cuts, allowing us to reach the Kyoto target and make further progress for the period after 2012. It is important to know that, for the European Union of 25, the result with the existing measures will be -7%.
Mrs Doyle, Mrs Grossetête and others asked about emissions from cars. I fully agree that this is a vital issue and that is why, in 2006, the Commission will review the agreement with the car industry in order to assess the possibility of reaching the Community objective of 120 g/km by a certain point, having made sure, of course, that we reach the target, voluntarily agreed with the car industry in Europe, Japan and Korea, of 140 mg.
Mrs Ek referred to the inclusion of transport in European Union emissions trading. The Commission has already made a proposal with regard to aviation, as you know. The Commission will assess this for the other transport sectors as part of the 2006 review.
On renewable energy, the Commission will put forward, in the weeks to come, a new report assessing a target for renewable energy by 2020. Regarding nuclear energy and the remarks made by Mr Hökmark, some Member States expect nuclear energy to be a part of their future energy. However, we have to ensure that we have a broad range of energy sources that are low in carbon. Nuclear power will not be able to meet the increased energy demands and we should also be aware that nuclear power faces problems concerning nuclear waste and public opinion.
With regard to what Mrs Gutiérrez-Cortines said about agriculture, the Commission agrees that synergies can be found between climate change and agriculture. We had an extremely interesting meeting in London, organised by Mrs Beckett and the UK Presidency, on climate change and agriculture and very important conclusions were reached there. The Commission will be putting forward a plan in support of biofuels.
Finally, winning the battle against climate change requires determined action, starting now. It requires action, as Mr Smith said, from all actors and sectors of society. We should not underestimate the size of the challenge. Winning the battle against climate change will take time, of which we have precious little, and efforts that some will argue we cannot afford. With your continued support, we are determined to reassert the European Union's leadership in this key challenge for mankind. Thank you very much.
The need to act urgently to tackle climate change was underlined by Mr Wijkman and others. I believe that the action taken and the series of new initiatives put forward by the Commission since the adoption of its communication in February clearly demonstrate its determination to act in this area.
The European Union's first priority in Montreal is to build broad international support for further action and obtain agreement on starting a formal process to discuss the shape of a future multilateral climate change regime. Once the discussions get going, the European Union will need to consider the right moment for putting forward its views on targets under such a future regime. Targets have proven to be a very useful tool in environmental policy making. They provide our guidance to decision-makers in society. They are particularly useful for industry and the private sector when they have to take long-term investment decisions. Targets will therefore remain a core element of any future climate change architecture. We need targets.
As you will be aware, the European Council of last March set down a pathway target of 15% to 30% of emissions reductions by 2020. However, the Commission believes that the time has not yet come to set concrete targets for developed countries in Montreal in December. That would only be done when we have more clarity on the progress of the negotiations on the post-2012 period.
Mr Seeber has underlined that any future climate change regime will have to build on broad participation on all major emitters and that is of key importance if our cooperation is to be truly efficient.
The Commission and Member States are working hard to promote deeper dialogue with the United States and developing countries. We have engaged in policy dialogue with the United States administration within the United Nations Framework Agreement on Climate Change and within other fora and meetings, such as the Joint Climate Change Science and Technology Workshop. That covers concrete topics such as renewable energy, energy efficiency and carbon sequestration.
The United States claims that is has a different approach to fighting climate change, based mainly on the research and development of new technologies. The difference between their approach and our approach is that they have seen an approximate 15% increase in carbon dioxide emissions while the European Union of 25 has seen a considerable reduction compared with 1990 levels, and the 15 member countries under the Kyoto regime obligations are 1.7% under the 1990 level. That is not enough, but we are sure that, by the end of our commitment period, we will be in compliance with our Kyoto target. This is the difference between the two approaches.
As regards developing countries, the European Union has an open mind on how they should participate in future multilateral climate cooperation. It is clear that we cannot expect the same mandatory requirements as we do from developed countries. Any commitment they take on will be based on the principle of common, but differentiated, responsibilities.
China and other developing countries have contributed to the formation of the greenhouse phenomenon by a much smaller percentage than the developed countries, and per capita emissions in China are currently less than one tenth of the levels in the developed world, so we should follow that example. Where capita income is much lower and development needs greater we have to follow what the United Nations Convention wisely prescribes as a common but differentiated policy."@en1
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