Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-05-Speech-2-215"
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"en.20060905.24.2-215"2
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"Mr President, climate change is the most important environmental problem that our planet faces. If the actions which we have targeted to address it do not bring about results, then the change will have very unfortunate economic and social consequences on a global scale in the future.
Actual emissions were lower than many expected. At this stage, the following conclusions may be drawn:
First, as far as monitoring, the submission of reports and verification are concerned, the scheme is operating very well. The results of the 2005 audit show that undertakings complied to a satisfactory degree with the basic obligations which derive from the trading scheme. The scheme infrastructure is operating smoothly.
Secondly, market-based mechanisms are a success and the Community emission allowance trading scheme appears to already be bearing fruit.
Thirdly and perhaps most importantly, the Member States can – and must – expect the sectors covered by this scheme to make a much greater contribution towards reducing emissions, especially if it is borne in mind that the European Union as a whole is not yet on track to honour its undertakings on the basis of the Kyoto Protocol.
As you know, the Member States must notify their national allocation plans which, as a whole, also determine the upper limit for the entire European Union for the 2008-2012 trading period, which coincides with the first commitment period in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol.
By yesterday, the Commission had received 10 national allocation plans representing approximately half of the total allowances approved by the Commission during the first trading period. These countries are Germany, Estonia, Lithuania, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and, yesterday, Greece.
The remaining Member States have not yet notified their national plans to the Commission. However, ten of them are already available as preliminary plans within the framework of public consultation. They come from the following Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.
The national allocation plans notified are currently being evaluated by the Commission. As you will understand, the Commission cannot make any material comment at this stage.
As far as our more general approach to this matter is concerned, I shall be clear: the Commission will use every political and legal means at its disposal to ensure that national plans comply both with the commitments made within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol and with the actual data on verified emissions for 2005. This will safeguard scarcity on the market, as well as terms of equal participation for undertakings.
More importantly for those Member States which are not close to achieving the targets based on the Kyoto Protocol, the national plans must be used in order to help achieve the required reductions. More importantly, the Member States with the worst performances must distribute fewer allowances in relation to the first trading period. Our job will be to guarantee a strict and fair evaluation of all plans.
That is why the Kyoto Protocol was signed and ratified within the framework of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, making provision for a 5.2% reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by developed countries and, within these frameworks, the European Union has undertaken to reduce emissions by 8% compared with 1990 levels.
Finally, I wish to assure you that the Commission attaches a great deal of importance to all the Member States submitting their national allocation plans for the second trading period as quickly as possible and we have already sent a letter, a sort of preliminary warning, to the countries which are delaying, before starting infringement proceedings.
If the Member States fail to send the information requested of them, the Commission will examine the possibility of taking further action. I trust that this will not be necessary and that, within the next few days, within the next month, the Member States will send in their greenhouse gas allowance trading allocation plans.
In order to achieve this target in the period from 2008 to 2012, we have taken various measures at Community and national level. Many of these measures are provided for in the first and second European programme on climate change. The main measure which we have provided for and which went into operation on 1 January 2005 is the Community trading scheme for greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide.
With this scheme, we provide for the cheapest efficient method of reducing greenhouse gases in the medium and long term. The scheme covers approximately 50% of carbon dioxide emissions in the European Union. It covers approximately 11 500 000 undertakings and industrial and other installations and today constitutes the biggest gas trading scheme in the world. It is without doubt the only international scheme and many countries have joined this scheme, which covers numerous sectors of economic activity.
The success of the Community trading scheme is of major significance because it will be able to form a base and we aim to use it as a core scheme in order to create an international greenhouse gas trading scheme.
This is one effective way of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases globally and, in particular, for us to help ensure that developed countries such as the United States, the number one country for greenhouse gas emissions in the world, accounting for one quarter of all carbon dioxide emissions, contribute to this reduction and, of course, for us to also find any which way that is acceptable to developing countries, which are also emitting more and more greenhouse gases.
You will have all read in the newspapers about what has been happening recently in California, with the initiative taken there for a scheme similar to the European trading scheme for carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to start operating there in 2009. The same applies, but specifically only to companies that generate electricity, in seven north-eastern states of the United States and it would appear that pressure is already being exerted from below on the federal government to start debating the question of a global greenhouse gas trading scheme.
I must emphasise that there can be no doubt about the European Commission's determination to maintain and improve this scheme in order to achieve the reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases required in order to stabilise concentrations of these gases in the atmosphere.
Last spring, the undertakings covered by the Community scheme, in keeping with their obligation, notified their emissions of carbon dioxide verified by independent auditors and, for the first time, we have a cohesive set of real values audited by independent agencies of emissions of carbon dioxide in the European Union."@en1
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