Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-01-16-Speech-1-173"
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"en.20060116.18.1-173"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I was a member of Parliament’s delegation to the Montreal Conference, and saw at first hand the efforts made by Commissioner Dimas and the British Presidency to reach an agreement, which, while not ideal, was very reasonable. Despite the US Administration once again causing a great deal of trouble up until the last moment, common sense eventually prevailed.
Unfortunately, the US Administration does not wish to understand that the Kyoto Protocol does not pose a problem for the economy. As Bill Clinton rightly said in Montreal, clean technologies and energies are a new economy that will create new business opportunities and new jobs. According to a report by the European Environment Agency, Europe has witnessed climate change in the past two years on a scale not seen for 5 000 years. The four hottest years on record were 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2004. If we continue at this rate, without effective action, global warming will cause ice-sheets to melt in the north and the spread of deserts in the south.
We must, as a matter of urgent priority, go further, and do more to honour the Kyoto Protocol. According to Professor Jacqueline McGlade, we need a gradual shift away from taxes on labour, and investment towards taxes on pollution and the inefficient use of materials and land. We also need reforms in the way that subsidies are applied to transport, housing, energy and agriculture. We need subsidies encouraging sustainable practices and efficient technologies.
Will we have sufficient courage to do what we have to do? One thing is for sure: if we do not act right away, we will be mortgaging our children’s futures."@en1
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