Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-04-23-Speech-3-266"
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"en.20080423.21.3-266"2
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"Mr President, I think that this lively and knowledgeable debate reflects the interest of this House in these issues. I thank you for that. I definitely know that I speak on behalf of Commissioner Dimas when he wants to thank you for the interest Parliament takes in relation to these issues. I recognise some old colleagues in the fight for environmental protection and biodiversity.
Finally, the action plan that was established is exactly about mainstreaming, including making sure that we also look at the common agricultural policy.
So I think from this point of view, again, it is about making sure that we convince both Member States and all our institutions to do everything to implement our targets.
I will not take more time. I am very aware of the need to stick to our timetable, so may I say thank you once again for the debate and also assure you that Commissioner Dimas personally intends to attend the ministerial segment of COP 9. I am sure he looks forward to seeing some of you there and I anticipate your support towards a successful outcome of these important meetings.
Homo sapiens as a race is an interesting thing, because we can fly to the moon, we can do mass communication through information technology and we can definitely talk. But we cannot create the rhinoceros or an eel or a little blue flower, and, when these creatures are gone, they are gone for ever, as you have rightly pointed out.
Let me just comment on a few things which I think are of principle interest. I would like to start with the issue of biofuels, because this is also a very lively debate right now in all the media and a big problem and challenge for all of us. As you know, the European Council agreed this 10% biofuels target subject to very clear conditions, and our position in the European Union is that we want sustainable biofuels that have no negative environmental or food production impact. We in the Commission consider the long-term benefits of biofuels in terms of less CO
emissions because, remember, the alternative today is oil. Security of supply and agriculture: new opportunities can be obtained thanks to the principles that were established. A limited target of 10%, robust sustainability criteria and also aiming at second-generation biofuels – this is the real challenge: to make sure that we can move as quickly as possible into the use of second-generation biofuels.
But we will also have to act internationally on these issues and make sure that there are sustainability criteria and that this does not add to the food crisis.
Let me also say, in response to Mr Wijkman, that this whole issue of deforestation will be addressed in a communication, as I understand this summer or early fall, so this issue will also be addressed in the negotiations.
At the same time it is necessary to catch the whole debate that is going on right now and make sure that we prepare properly a good discussion and a good decision on deforestation. That must also be prepared for the climate change negotiations.
I would also say to Ms Doyle that maybe the main thing is not to try to merge the negotiations between the different Conferences of Parties but rather to make sure that we maximise the co-benefits when we implement both the measures on fighting climate change and making sure that we can keep up our biodiversity targets.
So I think this is what has to be done now, especially when it comes to protecting tropical forests and to ensuring that we have these sustainability criteria for biofuels.
So I think we should not aim for what we know is already impossible or would bring us into an administrative and otherwise impossible political situation but look for the implementation. This goes for the whole debate on legislation and regulation and ambitious targets. We have them. We have them already, but now it is a matter of implementing them and, of course, working, as I tried to tell you, on the seven points that we aim for in the negotiations, to make sure that we also work internationally with partners to ensure we have a good scientific basis which we will move into very concrete implementation. That is what I can say in general."@en1
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