Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-01-23-Speech-3-046"
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"en.20080123.6.3-046"2
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"Madam President, no one ever said that meeting the challenge of global warming would be easy, but I am glad that the European Union here is taking the lead in trying to turn aspirations into practical policies. Numbers have been thrown about in an almost casual fashion – a lot of 20s by 2020 – and conjuring up these figures is easy, but the hard part is reaching the targets which are now being set.
In my country, the United Kingdom, for instance, I am very conscious that it is going to take quite a dramatic change of direction and a very rough gear change to meet these targets. I think this new policy direction is long overdue, but I am conscious of the difficulties and the realities before us.
I have two principal fears. The first is that governments will sign the pledge but fail to deliver, so I want to know how we are going to build in some sort of interim targets, some penalty structure, to ensure that the promises are delivered at the end of the day.
My second fear is that, in trying to do good, we will do some harm. My biggest concern here is over biofuels. I hear the comments of the Energy Commissioner, but the idea that we could risk tropical forest destruction and force up world food prices in order to featherbed our car manufacturers is, frankly, sickening, and we must be very cautious indeed about the sustainability criteria. I do have concerns about the direction of our own budget. We promote schemes that stimulate CO2 emissions and it seems to me that we have to run faster just to catch up with ourselves.
There are fine judgments to be made on many of these issues, but I know we are all working together towards a common purpose. This package of measures will promote innovation, stimulate investment and create millions of jobs. It must be seen not as a threat but as an opportunity for us all."@en1
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