EU leaders agree on ambitious plan to battle global warming
Pastor Dale Morgan
EU leaders agree on ambitious plan to battle global warming*
THE EU PLAN
EU leaders set new targets Friday to cut greenhouse gas emissions and
use more renewable energy. A look at where the European Union is and
what it plans to do next:
GREENHOUSE GASES
Now: 15 EU nations, mostly in wealthy Western Europe, have agreed to cut
greenhouse gas emissions by 8% below 1990 levels by 2012. They are set
to scrape under that target with most of the hard work taking place in
the next five years as major carbon polluters — heavy industry and power
plants — trade CO2 allowances that encourage them to cut emissions.
New: All 27 EU nations will cut overall greenhouse gas emissions by 20%
below 1990 levels by 2020, going further with a 30 percent cut if other
world regions join in.
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Now: The EU is currently slated to miss a target to generate 12% of all
energy from renewable sources by 2010, and is likely not to go over 10%.
In 2005, the EU got to 6%, with Britain, the Netherlands, Ireland,
Belgium, Cyprus and Malta all under 3%.
New: A binding target will force countries to invest heavily in the
sector to draw an overall 20% of all power from renewables by 2020. But
the EU said it will agree on individual targets with each country to
take account of "different starting positions."
BIOFUELS
Now: The EU is also not on track to meet a target to use 5.75% of
biofuels in transport fuel by 2010. But biofuels took only 1% of that
market in 2005, with only Sweden and Germany hitting 2%. The EU
forecasts that at best biofuels will only gain a 4.2% share in three years.
New: The EU wants to set a mandatory target for biofuels to replace 10%
of transport petrol and diesel by 2020, a massive increase that will
demand a rapid scale-up of the technology used to derive fuel from sugar
and plant oil crops.
REDUCING ENERGY USE
Now: No target, but there are voluntary programs and campaigns to
promote lower-power appliances.
New: The EU set a range of actions in an effort to cut energy use 13%
below current levels by promoting more efficient appliances, lighting
and heating, including a plan to require energy-saving street lighting
and light bulbs in homes and offices. It will also push for an
international deal to cut energy consumption.
BRUSSELS (AP) — Seizing the initiative on global warming, European Union
leaders agreed Friday to fight climate change with more windmills, solar
panels and efficient light bulbs, pledging that a fifth of the bloc's
energy will come from green power by 2020.
Even if the measures force changes in lifestyle, business and the
economy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel challenged the rest of the
world to follow suit, saying there still was time to "avoid what could
well be a human calamity" caused by an overheated planet.
The 27 EU nations remained divided, however, over the role of nuclear
energy — a technology that creates little CO2 but a lot of radioactive
waste instead.
At French insistence, the summit agreement noted the role atomic energy
could play in replacing coal- or oil-fired power plants blamed for
pumping out greenhouse gases.
European leaders said the agreement, the first to go beyond the
35-nation Kyoto Protocol in its targets for greenhouse gas emissions
cuts, marked a turning point in the fight against global warming.
"We assume leadership with this unilateral reduction," said French
President Jacques Chirac, adding, "This is part of the great moments of
European history."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair agreed: "It gives Europe a clear
leadership position on this crucial issue facing the world."
The EU said it could go even further than its biggest promise of all:
Cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20% from 1990 levels. The
EU said it could go to 30% if other countries join.
Climate change leapfrogged onto the EU's political agenda following a
record mild winter and the success of Al Gore's documentary "An
Inconvenient Truth."
With Friday's commitments — even though there is not yet an enforcement
mechanism — the EU now wants to lure other leading polluters, such as
the United States, Russia, China and India, to agree on deep emissions
cuts as well.
Merkel, who holds both the presidency of the EU and the Group of Eight
industrialized nations, will present the plans to U.S. President George
W. Bush and other G-8 leaders at a summit in June.
Even though EU nations still have to decide how to divvy up the burdens
of switching to more renewable energy sources, leaders were already
claiming victory.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called the deal "the
most ambitious package ever agreed by any institution on energy security
and climate change."
If EU nations fail to carry their weight, the EU's executive arm should
be able to launch legal action at the bloc's high court that could lead
to the imposition of heavy fines on countries that violate the targets.
Amid the buoyant statement, environmental groups sounded a glum warning.
Friends of the Earth called the mention of nuclear energy in the final
statement "appalling."
"Nuclear energy is too expensive. Nations should invest more cleverly in
developing other energy sources," said Jan Kowalzig, a campaigner with
Friends of the Earth.
The Greens in the European Parliament insisted more needed to be done.
"All credible scientific analysis shows that 30% is the reduction needed
to avoid disastrous climate change," Spokeswoman Ulrike Lunacek said.
The Kyoto accord requires industrial nations to cut their global-warming
gases by an average 5% below 1990 levels by 2012. Major EU economies
have committed to cut greenhouse gases by 8% in that time, and want the
United States to sign the treaty. But the Bush administration has
rejected the Kyoto agreement, saying it would hurt the U.S. economy.
The EU deal was a compromise between nations that had demanded mandatory
targets on clean energy, and eastern European nations led by Poland and
Slovakia that had said they do not have the money to meet such high
targets for developing costly alternatives. Those nations said they
prefer to stay with cheaper but more polluting options such as coal and oil.
At the "green summit," many of the leaders were still ferried around in
gas-guzzling fleets of big, black sedans.
Blair looked like an exception, pointedly strolling out of the courtyard
of the EU summit center under the glare of TV cameras on Thursday night
— only to be followed up the ramp by his official motorcade.
If the summit was high on statistics, light bulbs offered a reprieve.
The leaders agreed to ask the EU's executive arm to work out a plan to
promote energy-saving light bulbs, following the example of Australia,
Chile and other countries phasing out incandescent lamps.
"We are not saying they should throw out all bulbs in their house today,
but everybody should start thinking about what's in the shops," said Merkel.
"Most of the bulbs in my flat are energy-saving bulbs," she said — but
acknowledged that "they're not quite bright enough so sometimes when I'm
looking for something that's dropped on the carpet I have a bit of a
problem."