| |
|
|
|
|
|
||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
The Week in Germany: Current Affairs March 9, 2007 European Council: EU Forges Bold Climate Change Pact
European Union leaders Friday vowed bold action to curb greenhouse-gas
emissions and increase renewable energy use, describing the deal as the
world's most ambitious pact to fight climate change. While leaving details to be settled later, leaders of the 27-nation bloc
agreed to make a unilateral cut of 20 percent in greenhouse gas emissions
by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. They also agreed on a breakthrough
mandatory 20 percent increase in the share of renewable energy in overall
EU consumption by 2020. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who brokered the deal, said the EU had
sent a clear signal to other nations to take equally strong measures on
climate change. "We really have to prevent a calamity for mankind by acting now,"
said Merkel.
She added, however, that outstanding details of the agreement, including a nation-by-nation distribution of the cuts, will be hammered out in subsequent discussions among EU member states in the coming months. "There are still many important steps ahead of us," said Merkel. The EU commitment to make a unilateral cut of 20 percent in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 compared to 1990 levels will be raised to a 30 percent reduction in emissions - provided other industrialized nations follow suit. The EU also wants emerging nations and key polluters like China and India to make "adequate contributions" to achieve the goals. The binding 20 percent increase in the share of renewable energy in overall EU consumption by 2020 will increase EU utilization of renewable energies - wind, solar and water - threefold compared to current levels. Leaders also made a commitment to boost the use of biofuels in gasoline and diesel consumption in all member states to 10 percent by 2020. British Prime Minister Tony Blair described the hard-won accord as "ground-breaking" and said the deal gave the EU a "leadership role" on the global stage.
Yet leaders did not set national targets for achieving the EU-wide climate change goals. The 20 percent targets for slashing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the share of renewable energies have been set for the 27-nation bloc as a whole, not for specific member states, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said. Individual EU nations will therefore decide on national targets for each specific sector of renewable energies and for cutting emissions, he added. Barroso said the Commission would make proposals on the national distributions in the fall, adding that the distribution would take account of EU countries' different economic development levels and energy profiles.
Promising to follow up words with actions, Merkel said it would be "a bad signal" to the rest of the world if Europe did not stick to the deal. The EU has so far succeeded in reducing its emissions to 3 percent below the 1990 level, but more needs to be done to reach the 8 percent emission reduction target agreed in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, according to the European Commission. The EU accounts for about 14 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions
while the United States, the largest emitter, produces some 25 percent.
The EU's new agreement will be the basis for fresh negotiations on a new
international climate change treaty, which would replace the current Kyoto
Protocol as of 2012. (dpa) Links:
|
|
More from Germany.info  Newsletters
 Printer-Friendly
Page
Email This Article |
||
|
|||||
|
|||||
