Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-02-05-Speech-2-297"
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"en.20020205.14.2-297"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to start by thanking the rapporteur for the presentation of his report, and also for his commitment to climate protection in recent years. I would also like to thank the Commission, in particular Commissioner Wallström, who has done everything to make it possible for us to now discuss in definite terms the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, which, we can now, thank God, get to grips with.
Tomorrow we can say only ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to the Kyoto Protocol, but it has taken a great deal of work to give us the chance to say ‘Yes’ to a comprehensive agreement. I thank all those who have played a part in this. The Kyoto Protocol has come in for heavy criticism and will continue to do so.
Most recently, as the rapporteur has mentioned, it is burden sharing on which criticism has again been focused. I will say here quite openly that burden sharing merits criticism, and that those who say that the burdens are shared unfairly, are right. No one, though, is reducing too much; all the Member States are reducing too little. The experts tell us quite unambiguously that, if we want to put a stop to climate change, we must reduce greenhouse gases by 50% worldwide. The magnitude of the task and the pettiness of the discussions between the Member States about this first step – which is, after all, a very modest one – is shown if we work on the basis that the industrialised countries need to reduce by over 50% in order for the developing countries to have any kind of chance of achieving some sort of prosperity for themselves.
India produces a tonne of CO2 per head of the population, as against the Member States of the European Union with about 10 tonnes on average. Against such a backdrop it is bad enough that some EU Member States are permitted to increase their emissions, and that the Member States that produce a very great deal of pollution, such as the one from which I come, complain about now having to reduce their emissions by a relatively large amount.
The Kyoto Protocol is only an initial step and must be followed by many others. We should not, therefore, be small-mindedly discussing the number of places after the decimal point, but energetically striving for a sustainable economy, being careful with resources and saving energy."@en1
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