Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-10-06-Speech-3-207"
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, when the UN’s climate convention was adopted in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the European Union showed itself to be a strong world leader. It did the same when the Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997. It is my ambition to ensure that the EU retains this leading role in combating climate change. The European Parliament has already had an important role to play in taking this work forward. I also welcome the resolution which has been presented here today.
The Commission will shortly be adopting new guidelines in connection with State support aimed at protecting the environment. Mario Monti is investigating the ways in which subsidies and tax incentives can contribute to an improved environment and to protecting our climate. I shall also be investigating whether the support for fossil fuels might be redirected to the use of renewable energy sources and implementation of energy-saving measures.
I should also like to urge the European Parliament to determine what Parliament can do through its own work to ensure that these questions about climate change are taken into account in different sectors of the economy. We need your full support in order to achieve rapid results in this area.
I want to say that I fully share Parliament’s view that we must all provide intelligible and easily accessible information to make it easier for citizens of the European Union to play an active role in this work. It is only when each and every one of us takes his or her own share of responsibility for climate change that we are going to see results.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the measures I have just reported on will help give Europe the credibility required for us to be able to continue to fight for ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. This ought to be ratified as soon as possible after the Sixth Party Summit to the UN’s framework convention on climate change. If we are to succeed in our efforts, it will of course also be necessary for the Member States to participate fully and to live up to their commitments. Mr Hassi has already spoken about the forthcoming international negotiations at the Fifth Party Summit.
Finally, may I also emphasise the decisive role which the EU plays as a bridge between the USA and developing countries, making sure that all are fully involved in the process and live up to their commitments. I am counting on your wholehearted support and look forward to close collaboration with Parliament with a view to achieving results. It is our joint responsibility to succeed, and on behalf of future generations too.
The political challenge is enormous. Ratification of the Kyoto Protocol is still not within reach. A lot of rich countries with unacceptably high emissions of greenhouse gases are hesitating. What is more, the highest increases in emissions during the next two decades will take place in the developing countries. Within the EU, too, the trend is in the wrong direction. Emissions have increased dramatically in recent years, especially within the transport sector.
It is important that the EU is expected to be able to stabilise its emissions of greenhouse gases at the 1990 level by the year 2000, but that is not enough. If we continue as we are today, we shall not be able to honour our Kyoto commitment to reduce emissions by 8% over the period 2008 to 2012. The trend is not good, whether in terms of sustainable development or the EU’s international credibility. How are we going to meet this challenge?
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, as I have already stated during the European Parliament’s hearings, combating climate change is one of my most important priorities. I shall be proposing the measures required to achieve results in this area. Allow me to outline now what, in my view, are three essential components of an effective and comprehensive climate change strategy.
Firstly: if we are to be able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we need to adopt a strategy which includes concrete measures in different areas. A number of sectors and interests must be involved in this work. In order to achieve this, I shall be launching an action programme to combat climate change at the beginning of next year. My idea is to bring together all those concerned: technical experts, representatives of business, non-governmental organisations and other important players. The object, of course, is to reap the benefits of cooperation and to try to reach a consensus on practical measures which the Commission can propose to the Council and Parliament. A programme of this kind may form the basis for further measures. An important part of these measures will be to spread knowledge and make better use of the enormous advantages which new technology offers. Great capacity exists in the form of renewable energy sources, new vehicle technology, energy-efficient equipment and machinery which is waiting to get onto the market. Up until now, we have not been using this potential sufficiently. We must alert private individuals and business to the fact that this new technology, in many cases, also holds out the prospect of financial gain. The market for these technological solutions must be extended through the introduction on our part of a mixture of clear rules and financial incentives.
Secondly: I intend, during the spring of 2000, to present a Green Paper on the trade in emission rights within the EU. I am aware of the fact that there are still hesitations when it comes to using so-called flexible mechanisms. I am nonetheless convinced that, if they are regulated as part of a system with clear and effective conditions, such mechanisms will contribute to our being able, in a cost-effective way, to achieve the reductions in emissions which we need.
Thirdly: in addition to these measures, we must also implement changes in areas which influence emissions of greenhouse gases but which lie outside the range of environmental policy. I am thinking mainly of sectors such as the energy, transportation and industrial sectors. We must therefore make sure that the integration strategy which was adopted in Cardiff in June 1998 produces results. The discussions which are to take place in connection with the Summit in Helsinki in December will in many ways decide how these sectors might contribute to combating climate change.
Many people say that this will take time. That is quite true, but it is also a good reason for taking measures right now. We can see positive developments in certain areas. I am thinking, for example, of the efforts which Mr Bolkestein, has made to remove obstacles to the negotiations concerning the proposed energy tax. It is clear, however, that if certain Member States, in the future too, oppose this proposal, we shall have to find alternatives. I note that the European Parliament is in fact in favour of using the flexibility clause in the Amsterdam Treaty. This clause in fact enables a number of Member States to move forward in this area.
Questions relating to transportation and energy are also of decisive importance for the combating of climate change. I shall therefore be discussing with Mrs Loyola de Palacio how to reach the goal of doubling the use of renewable energy sources and also improving energy efficiency. We shall also be discussing how we are going to be able to reduce emissions from the transport sector."@en1
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