EU pushes leadership on climate

Border Mail
Saturday 15/3/2008 Page: 32

EUROPEAN Union leaders were set yesterday to agree to enact an ambitious global warming action plan by early next year, in order to set the tone for international climate talks in 2009. "It's a very good proposal and I believe that tomorrow we'll be able to support it by way of council (summit) conclusions. We must reach agreement in the first months of 2009 at the latest," Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said after the first day of an EU summit.

Mr Jansa and other European leaders want the EU to be in a strong position for climate change negotiations with its global partners, particularly China, Brazil and the US. "The European Union will continue to lead in this area," he said. In written conclusions from their summit in Brussels, the leaders are expected to come up with a "coherent package" of laws that should be adopted "at the latest early in 2009", according to a draft.

The plan aims to meet the 27-country EU's over-arching goal to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide - the main gas held responsible for global warming - by 20 per cent by 2020, compared to 1990 levels. They have committed to go to 30 per cent if other countries would match them.

To achieve that figure, EU states are obliged to make renewable energies, such as solar and wind power, the source of 20 per cent of the total energy consumption across the bloc by 2020. The current level is just 6 to 7per cent. They have also given a political commitment that eco-friendly biofuels, made from plants, should make up 10 per cent of total vehicle fuel in Europe by 2020.

However, yesterday Mr Jansa cast some doubt on that initiative, telling a press conference that the biofuels target could be amended amid fears it will further hit soaring food prices as fuel crops such as colza take land from traditional food crops. The proposed plan, presented by the European Commission in January, set targets for individual nations to help achieve the bloc's goals, and would oblige industry to start paying for the gases emitted.

EU leaders argued a year ago that such targets would help put the bloc at the forefront of international efforts to fight climate change, but some countries fear they will struggle to meet them. Several ex-communist nations have criticised the EU executive arm's proposals, fearing the costs for their relatively poor, coal dependent economies.