Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-11-24-Speech-2-023"
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"en.20091124.3.2-023"2
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"Mr President, if you look out of the window today, you will see a rather miserable Strasbourg day, which is nothing out of the ordinary. Even the floods which are devastating parts of my region in Cockermouth and Workington, where we have had the highest rainfall on record, are nothing special; they cannot be specifically attributed to climate change, although they are in line with the science.
It is hard to take the political decisions necessary when there is doubt about whether climate change is taking place. We have to take a step back; we have to recognise that during the course of one lifetime, the human population has quadrupled and our use of fossil fuels, our energy consumption, has grown enormously. Perhaps, as our atmosphere retains the same depth, we also must wonder whether climate change should not be taking place faster than it is.
I think it is important to recognise that climate change is not a religion. It is not a faith. We have to take on board the arguments of the sceptics and we have to challenge them. We have to ensure that our science is put to the fore. I just wish some of the sceptics would not take such delight in putting forward proposals to delay action, proposals which might end up costing the lives of millions.
There has been a downplaying of the ambitions for Copenhagen, but if you had heard Minister Carlgren at the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety yesterday, you would have heard no such downplaying. The ambitions could not have been reinforced more strongly. We have 65 Heads of Government attending. We need the leaders of the United States and China to be there too, but we have an opportunity here to take some major political decisions.
I welcome the fact that the European Union has given such leadership. We are delighted with this. The question is: is it enough? The situation is fluid. We have four weeks and negotiations have a momentum of their own. Are we giving you enough room for manoeuvre? The Commissioner has suggested that we need to move from 20% to 30%. Now, is this a shift in our negotiating position? Are we strengthening this? Are we saying that we are prepared to make this gesture even before we get a final agreement? Before this debate finishes, can we hear more from the Council and the Commission about what room there is for upping our game?"@en1
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