Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-11-24-Speech-2-086"
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"Madam President, this was a very interesting debate with some exceptional and constructive interventions. Numerous views on various issues have been heard. Very possibly certain people do not agree. For example, I cannot understand why anyone would be opposed to clean, green, non-polluting industries based on new technologies which perform well. And yet, I have heard even that today. I cannot understand why anyone would prefer polluting, old-technology industries which, if they make a profit, do so because they do not pay the cost of pollution; however, such profits will be short-term because these industries will not be competitive. However, in a democracy and in a democratic parliament, all sorts of views are heard.
I should also like to comment on the World Environmental Organisation. This organisation, on which I know that France, in particular, has made a great deal of effort, was in fact one of our ambitions and I hope that it will become a reality in coming years. Without doubt, an organisation such as this is needed, so that there is an environmental organisation at international level which will promote environmental issues in the same way as economic or social issues and which will also provide better coordination of international environmental agreements. This can be done relatively easily by upgrading the existing UN environmental programme and efforts are indeed being made in this direction.
I should also like to talk about the Kyoto Protocol, which was referred to several times. I am happy about the performance of the European Union, because the 15 countries which have the collective objective of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 8% in the period 2008-2012 will achieve their target, but the EU of the 27, with the 10 new countries which have a target and Cyprus and Malta which do not have, will also achieve the target. Thus, the European Union has the moral argument that we keep our word and this has, without doubt, been achieved with the measures we have taken either at national level or at European level, which include the carbon dioxide emissions trading scheme.
I must stress, as Mr Carlgren said, that the European Union will achieve an even bigger reduction than we originally undertook to achieve on the basis of our forecasts, alongside economic growth. I shall quote just one statistic: between 1990 and 2007, the period for which we have statistics, economic growth was 44% and the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions was 5% for the 15 countries and 9% for the 27. Of course, the forecasts are that, by 2012, we shall have well exceeded the target, which will make it easier to achieve the target of a 30% reduction by 2020.
It should be noted that, in 2008, we also had a significant reduction of 1.6% in greenhouse gases in the European Union, alongside continuing economic growth, and it was only in the last part of 2008 that we were hit by the economic crisis, which also had an impact on the issue of greenhouse gases.
There are only a few days left and I beseech you to extend your efforts and bilateral contacts. Following consultations by ECOFIN, the Environment Council and the European Council, we now have clear instructions to promote specific proposals for sources of financing, for operational structures and for the criteria which must be used in order to determine serious contributions by everyone. Let us try, in the time we have left, to make use of these means in the most effective way possible.
There is broad consensus on the need for efforts to be made on a global scale in order to achieve the 2° Celsius target. There is a general conviction that the basic foundations of a climate agreement for the period after 2012 will and must be laid in Copenhagen. These foundations are mainly ambitious commitments to reduce emissions on the part of developed countries, including the United States, adequate measures by developed countries to reduce their increase in emissions and financial assistance to developing countries to moderate their emissions and adapt to climate change.
We are fast approaching the finishing line. Let us make the best possible use of Copenhagen and crystallise the main commitments of all the countries in what will be an historic agreement. What we shall need to achieve in Copenhagen is a substantial agreement on all elements of the Bali action plan. All these elements need to be agreed in Copenhagen on a binding basis and immediately afterwards, in the next three to six months at the latest, the legalities will need to be processed, so that we have the binding agreement the European Union has been seeking and which will safeguard the target of limiting the greenhouse effect to 2° Celsius.
I consider it goes without saying that the members of the European Parliament will assist in efforts made over these days, especially at the crucial meetings in Copenhagen, and I should like to thank you for that and, once again, for all the efforts you have made."@en1
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