Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-05-21-Speech-3-013"
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, I am sorry I am late, but I was trying to keep my speed down in order to protect our climate.
Our main debate today concerns scientific data on climate change. First of all I wish to thank my colleague Karl-Heinz Florenz for his outstanding work and his constant devotion to this issue.
Ladies and gentlemen, scientific knowledge on climate change has now been established. In the opinion of a majority of experts on the subject, we can no longer entertain any doubts as to the fact that global warming is now a reality, and that it is largely due to human activities. A few dissidents question the reality of this phenomenon, without offering any genuine proof. The interim report by our Temporary Committee on Climate Change is the first phase in a process that will lead to a search for solutions.
Almost all of us agree that the increase in world temperature ought to be restricted to two degrees above pre-industrial levels, while bearing in mind that we actually ought to be aiming for an increase of less than two degrees. The debate on climate change cannot, however, be boiled down to a battle of statistics. When we talk about the climate, we mention the melting of the Arctic ice cap, desertification, global warming, displacement of animal species, and especially phenomena that could have catastrophic consequences in terms of human displacement.
This is a major challenge for mankind as a whole. The regions hardest hit will be the poorest countries in Africa, Asia and Central and Latin America, where environmental migration is envisaged. A new kind of refugee is set to emerge with the onset of extreme climate conditions. They will no longer be political refugees or economic migrants; they will be climate refugees. There is also a risk of a food crisis since there will be less cultivatable land. When supplies of drinking water become more scarce, tensions will rise, and wars could break out in a struggle for control of resources.
We have an immense responsibility here. It is no longer a matter of questioning the phenomenon of climate change, but for all of us to work together to find solutions and implement them. The Climate Action and Renewable Energy package presented by the Commission in January is also now being discussed by Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy: emission quota trading system, sharing of the climate burden, capture and storage of carbon and renewable energies.
Members of our PPE-DE Group on these committees and the PPE Group as a whole are heavily involved. We are expecting many such debates, and are determined to work together to find a compromise at first reading. It is essential that Parliament and the Council reach an agreement before the European elections.
Ladies and gentlemen, the European Union has taken on the role of world leader in the fight against climate change vis-à-vis its international partners, and it must retain this role. If we do not take our role seriously to encourage the US and other countries, as you said, Commissioner, such as China and India, to join us in the fight against climate change, then who will?
Europe must be united and fully operational at the Poznań World Conference in December 2008, which will shape the agreement we hope to sign in Copenhagen in December 2009. This is a world challenge, but Europe is the power that can persuade its partners to join its fight, and we must make preparations for the future of our children and our grandchildren."@en1
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