Verbatim report of proceedings

Wednesday, 16 November 2005 - Strasbourg

4. Climate change – Beating global climate change

  President. The next item is the joint debate on the statements by the Council and the Commission on climate change, and the report (A6-0312/2005) by Mr Wijkman on behalf of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety on Winning the Battle Against Global Climate Change (2005/2049(INI)).

  Margaret Beckett, President-in-Office of the Council. Mrs President, there is now almost universal acceptance that climate change is a serious and an urgent problem. The IPCC predicts that global temperatures may rise by as much as 5.8°C by the year 2100. According to one insurance company, the estimated economic costs of global warming could double to USD 150 billion each year in the next 10 years, hitting insurers with USD 30-40 billion worth of claims. There is good evidence that the 2003 European heatwave was influenced by global warming and that, as Members will recall, resulted in 26 000 premature deaths, as well as costing USD 13.5 billion.

Those events and their associated price tags bring very close to home the reality of what unchecked climate change would mean for us. It is clear that the scale of a climate change problem is enormous and that it is pressing, and that is why the UK decided to make climate change a priority for our presidencies of both the G8 and the EU.

2005 has been a critical year for international climate change policy. The Kyoto Protocol has entered into force. The EU Emissions Trading Scheme is up and running and we are due, at the end of the year, to begin discussions on further action beyond 2012, something to which I will return.

The G8 represents only a small – albeit key – group of countries, but the progress we have made there will, I hope, have a major impact. The G8 summit discussions in July concluded with an ambitious communiqué. It included agreement from all members, including the United States, on the role of human activity in global warming and on the need for urgent action. There was also consensus on a package of actions to combat climate change through a diverse range of avenues: energy efficiency, cleaner power generation, research and development, financing of cleaner energy, managing the impacts of climate change, as well as combating illegal logging.

The G8 countries have engaged with the World Bank and other development banks to improve the harnessing of funding for clean technology and, crucially, they also agreed to begin a new dialogue between the G8 and other countries with significant energy needs on climate change, clean energy and sustainable development. The first meeting of that dialogue took place in London on 1 November. Mexico has offered to host a second meeting next year.

The Member States of the European Union were some of the first in the 1990s to recognise the dangers of global warming, the link to human activity and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As long ago as 1991 the Commission issued the first Community strategy aimed at limiting CO2 emissions and improving energy efficiency. In the light of the EU’s commitments under the Kyoto Protocol, it soon became clear that more needed to be done. So, in 2000 came the launch of the European climate change programme. Today the EU is taking the lead, for example in focusing on emissions from aviation, and we warmly welcome the Commission’s recent communication on reducing the climate change impacts of aviation. Its announcement of support for the inclusion of aviation emissions in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme is highly encouraging and we look forward to fostering progress in that area as a priority for our Presidency of the European Union.

Within Europe there is a clear recognition of the importance of energy efficiency in meeting the challenge posed by climate change and work is already under way to deliver energy efficiency savings throughout the Community. The energy services directive which we hope to agree by the end of the year is expected to provide a challenging first step, while the Commission’s Green Paper on energy efficiency published at the end of June should set the future blueprint for Europe’s energy efficiency strategy to 2020.

But despite all this work and effort, it is clear that emissions in the EU are not being reduced as quickly as we want and that urgent action is needed in all sectors, at both national and EU level. So I applaud the Commission’s decision to launch a new phase of the European climate change programme to look at what more can be done.

Alongside this, the Commission and Council are developing an EU medium- and long-term strategy for tackling climate change and will report on progress so far to the December European Council. Parliament’s input in this will be crucial, so the resolution that you have recently produced is an extremely valuable contribution to this process.

The UK Presidency has set out to create a fresh momentum in the wider international process in which the EU plays such a crucial role. That is why we put climate change on the agenda of our EU summits with China and India. These two countries are particularly important partners for the EU in tackling climate change. Both summits included useful bilateral discussions on energy security and efficiency.

A key element of the partnership with China is a new initiative on near-zero emissions for coal, with carbon capture and storage, to address the vital challenge of tackling the increasing greenhouse gas emissions from coal. We also agreed a new partnership with India. The EU-Russia summit too was an excellent chance to consider what experiences we can share with regard to the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, to ensure its mechanisms are up and running as soon as possible.

In September, for the first time, Ministers from the Agriculture Council met Environment Ministers to discuss the impacts of climate change on agriculture in the EU. We also put climate change on the agenda of the Energy, Transport and Competitiveness Councils.

All this activity is leading to the first meeting in December of the parties to the Kyoto Protocol in Montreal, where, under the Protocol, parties will begin discussions on the next period after 2012. Let me make it quite clear that the EU and the UK remain absolutely committed both to the Kyoto Protocol itself and to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. As our Prime Minister Tony Blair said this week at the Lord Mayor’s banquet in London, the world needs a framework with the necessary targets, sensitively and intelligently applied over the right timeframe, that takes us beyond 2012. Perhaps I could ask colleagues to take particular note of the use of the word ‘targets’, because the UK has repeatedly stated that formal agreements with targets are absolutely essential in any international climate change regime, not least because they give incentive and certainty to the business community.

The informal G8 process is also hugely important, but it is complementary. It is not, and was never intended to be, a substitute for the Kyoto Protocol or for the United Nations Convention. I hope the work we have done this year through both presidencies will in fact be built on at Montreal.

Montreal will primarily be the celebration of a massive achievement: the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol. There were times when it looked as though that might never happen, but the EU continued doggedly to work for such an outcome, and now here we are, with the world’s only credible, binding international agreement on controlling greenhouse gas emissions.

The EU set out our negotiating position for Montreal at the October Environment Council. First, we want to agree the Marrakesh Accords – the decisions that will form the rulebook of the Protocol. Secondly, we want to agree a compliance mechanism to ensure that parties to the Protocol keep to its rules. Thirdly, we want to seek to improve the way the Kyoto mechanisms – and here I am talking mainly about the clean development mechanism – work. Emissions trading, the CDM and joint implementation are all crucial elements to the Protocol and will remain essential in the years to come.

Finally, the Montreal Conference will look to the future and begin to discuss what happens when the first Kyoto commitment period ends in 2012. This last issue is likely to be by far the most delicate, as well as the most important, element. There is no question but that we want to build on the Kyoto Protocol post-2012 and that we have to launch a discussion under Article 3(9) of that Protocol to consider future commitments of the EU along with other Kyoto parties. However, it is also quite clear that for a global climate change regime to be truly effective, we need broader participation than the Protocol currently offers. At Montreal we will be looking for pathways towards a framework post-2012 which builds on and learns from the Kyoto Protocol as it stands and can include as many countries as possible.

The EU will clearly have to back our political ambition for the Montreal Conference of the Parties with real evidence that we are taking a lead in tackling climate change. The Kyoto Protocol also stipulates that, by the end of 2005, parties must demonstrate their progress in meeting their Kyoto commitments. This will be the ideal time for the EU to reaffirm our commitment to Kyoto, to meeting our emission reduction targets and to our obligations to assist developing countries. In preparing for the conference, we are assembling data, facts and figures to show the practical application of our political commitment. We know that we need to do more and we all stand ready to do more.

Today’s debate here in Strasbourg will allow us to take stock of the current situation and offer us a further opportunity to demonstrate to the rest of the world that the EU takes this problem very seriously and is committed to delivering results. Together we have already achieved a great deal; we have shown leadership and made a real difference. We need to continue to do that and not falter as the environmental stakes get higher.

We will not see a resolution to the problem at Montreal, nor under the current UK Presidency of the EU. We need future presidencies – both of the EU and of the G8 – to carry on this work, keeping climate change high on their agendas and tackling the major threats it poses to our economies, our society and our environment. There are encouraging signs that the next G8 presidencies – Russia and Japan – fully intend to do so and I have every confidence in the EU’s continued determination to tackle this vital issue.

(Applause)

  Stavros Dimas, Μember of the Commission. (EL) Madam President, I am particularly pleased to be given the opportunity to debate with you the recent developments surrounding climate change and the way in which the relevant policy of the European Union will be strengthened and the active involvement of all partners in productive international cooperation in this field will be achieved.

Today's debate is particularly important in the run-up to the forthcoming meeting of the parties in Montreal, which will be marked by the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol and discussions about the system to combat climate change after 2012.

We have all been worried by the recent succession of disasters. We had a serious drought on the Iberian Peninsular this summer, we had floods during the summer in central Europe, we had a series of hurricanes – Katrina, Rita, Wilma – and other smaller-scale disasters.

2005 has already achieved an unprecedented record, in that 2005 was the year with the highest number of named tropical cyclones since records began. Although specific weather phenomena cannot be connected directly to climate change, the increase in the phenomena of droughts and floods and the more serious and more frequent hurricanes or tropical storms nonetheless confirm scientific warnings about climate change.

The earth has probably never in its history heated up as quickly as it has over the last 30 years. The 1990s were the hottest decade and nine of the ten hottest years in history fell between 1995 and 2004, with the hottest in 1998. Scientists are expressing fears that 2005 may ultimately be the hottest year in history.

As we all know, when the planet heats up, the sea also heats up and when the temperature of the sea exceeds 26°C, then a tropical cyclone is likely to develop. The temperature at the surface of the sea has increased at global level over the last 100 years to 0.6%, which means that we shall probably have much more frequent and stronger cyclones in future.

Nonetheless, rather than determining the extent to which hurricane Katrina or other weather phenomena were caused by human activity, it is more important that we draw lessons from these weather phenomena, so that we can win the battle against climate change.

I should like to refer in particular to Parliament's motion for a resolution on the communication entitled 'Winning the battle against global climate change' and I should like to thank in particular the rapporteur, Mr Wijkman, and the members of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, the Committee on Development and the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy for their valuable and specific proposals.

The motion for a resolution emphasises that the Community strategy for restricting climate change must be based on an approach which includes the following: building on key elements of the Kyoto Protocol, strong reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases in the European Union, the participation of all the main countries, such as the United States, the development of a strategic partnership with developing countries of crucial importance, vigorously promoting research and innovation and improving energy efficiency in the European Union.

I agree with and support this approach; the initiatives taken by the Commission this year in the field of climate change mostly go hand in hand with Parliament's proposal.

Allow me to make a brief general remark: in October, the Commission marked the beginning of a new era in the European programme on climate change at a major conference in Brussels which was attended by the main actors in the sector. The new European programme on climate change will be a new framework for the policy which we exercise on climate change beyond 2012.

We address a series of new issues, such as aviation, and we also turn our attention to new technologies, such as carbon capture, which offer opportunities for taking financially efficient measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

As a first step, the Commission is setting up certain working parties. They include the working party which will review the progress made to date in implementing policies on climate change, the working party which will investigate carbon capture and storage in geological formations as a means of moderating climate change, the working party which will evaluate the integration of aviation into the Community greenhouse gas trading scheme, the working party which will prepare the review of the Community strategy on reducing emissions of carbon dioxide from light commercial vehicles and the working party which will determine the necessary political adjustments which the European Union needs to follow.

Each of these working parties will determine specific new fields in which the European Union can step up its action to combat climate change. The first of these working parties is expected to start submitting its final reports during the first half of next year.

As Mrs Beckett said, the Commission has also adopted a Green Paper on energy efficiency. Similarly, I should like to refer to the Commission communication entitled 'Reducing the climate change impact of aviation'. Aviation is making an increased contribution to emissions of greenhouse gases. The Communication arrives at the conclusion that, in order to reduce these emissions, the best way is to integrate the aviation sector into the Community emissions trading scheme. Following consultations with the interested parties, the Commission intends to submit the relevant legislative proposal by the end of 2006.

Of course, the Commission's initiatives are not confined solely to developing action within the European Union. We take an active part in discussions with third countries and seek their opinion on the next steps which need to be taken during future negotiations on climate and on the creation of new structures to strengthen our political dialogue and technological cooperation.

Climate change and, in particular, its connections with energy and the secure supply of energy, are included in the priorities of our bilateral and multilateral contacts. In this sector, we are cooperating closely with the British Presidency which, as Mrs Beckett said earlier, has placed climate change very high on the agenda for the G8 summit in Gleneagles and has constantly placed the issue of climate change on its list of priorities.

The results are encouraging. The agreement on the partnership between the European Union and China on climate change and energy provides the political framework for closer cooperation and dialogue on these issues. The main objective of the EU-China partnership is to develop advanced, almost zero-emission, carbon technology based on carbon capture and storage in biological formations. Its other objectives are to promote other clean energy sources and energy efficiency, energy savings and renewable sources of energy.

The EU-India initiative on clean development and climate change makes provision for various initiatives in order to develop dialogue. It emphasises cooperation on the development and evaluation of clean technologies, on the necessary adjustments to the heating of the planet and on the clean development mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol.

The UN Climate Change Conference will start in Montreal in Canada at the end of the month and will last two weeks. The Commission has participated actively in a series of unofficial meetings to prepare for the Montreal conference. Our activities, both in the European Union and on the international stage, have played a serious role in shaping the conditions for the success of this conference. What are our objectives in Montreal?

Firstly, the conference will mark the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol, with the adoption of the rules and procedures required for its application. Within this framework, it is important for us to demonstrate that the European Union is responding to its commitments.

Secondly, the intensive dialogue held over recent months has created important momentum, so that at the Montreal conference the debate will start at international level on the shape of the future international climate change strategy.

However, the achievement of the above objectives is not a foregone conclusion. A small number of countries, headed by the United States, continue to be unwilling to participate in the dialogue on the future global strategy relating to climate change. We shall need to step up our efforts over coming weeks, so that these countries also cooperate in starting the dialogue.

It is also important for us to realise that the Montreal conference will not be the end of the procedure; it will mark the beginning of the dialogue but it will not provide the solution. The solution will only be found through an intensive international debate over coming years. Through this dialogue, we need to find the solutions that will respond to the basic elements of the future climate strategy, as determined in the Commission's communication earlier this year. These elements are reflected in Parliament's motion for a resolution: broader participation, coverage of all sectors and all gases, strengthening the development and use of new technologies, using means based on market mechanisms and finally, policies to adjust to the consequences of the increase in the heating of the planet.

To close, if there is to be a positive outcome from the dialogue, there must continue to be active political interest in the issue of climate change and the leading role of the European Union must be strengthened. We need to demonstrate that we can reduce our emissions and that this contributes towards our economic development. The motion for a resolution sends out a clear message that, in meeting this challenge, the Commission can always count on the support of the European Parliament.

  Anders Wijkman (PPE-DE), rapporteur. – (SV) Madam President, Commissioner, I wish to convey my special thanks to Mrs Beckett, who was present in this Chamber today. Climate change is one of the most serious threats we face. I wish to emphasise that it can no longer be seen as an environmental problem. A warmer climate is a less stable climate, entailing a threat to just about every sector of our society, a threat that must be designated as one of our security problems. It is a security threat not only to the EU and its Member States but also, of course, to many poor countries in the tropics.

At the same time as saying that, I wish to emphasise that it is important not to see the climate issue merely as a problem and a burden. If we do the right things, we can reduce the risks for society in the future. If we do the right things, we can also open up opportunities for companies and technology in a range of areas. The world boasts an association known as the Climate Group. This includes a number of large companies, which show that it is possible both to reduce emissions and to earn a lot of money in a relatively short period. I believe that the necessary transformation of energy and transport systems in our part of the world should become an important lever in the Lisbon Process and should be able to create some impetus for creating new jobs and export opportunities.

Parliament’s report offers a list of proposed measures for the strategy after 2012. We think that the EU should continue to play a leading role in climate change work at an international level. Mrs Beckett has just confirmed in her speech that this is a view shared within the Council. We must do more in the short term so that we really do comply with the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol. We are, however, at present responsible only for a portion of emissions, amounting to approximately 14%. We must, then, involve other actors. It is a matter of great urgency that, in the long run, we involve the United States in constructive cooperation. We must establish long-term goals. What we demand, and want to see, are reductions of 30% by 2020 and of 60% to 80% by 2050. This is also a demand constantly heard from the business world, which says that it needs long-term ground rules.

The situation of the developing countries is, of course, incredibly important. For them, energy is first and foremost a question of growth and development, but they need not repeat our mistakes. We require strategic partnerships, especially with the large developing countries, in order to provide a stimulus for technological leaps forward and for investment in the best possible technology. What has been introduced in this area through the Commission’s agreement with China is, of course, extremely constructive, but it must take place on a larger scale and become very much more significant. It should be borne in mind that, every month, China puts two new coal-fired power stations into operation.

We must invest more in research and development. It is now a fact that governments throughout the world invest less in energy research as a proportion of GDP than they did 30 years ago. That is quite incomprehensible to me. I often compare this state of affairs with that which applied in relation to the Apollo project. If the Americans were able to put a human being on the moon within ten years, we should, by means of huge efforts in the fields of research and development, be able to do something similar in terms of a breakthrough in new technologies. In order to become politically credible, we must take vigorous measures at home. We must give impetus to energy saving, something that has already been emphasised on several occasions. This means that, for example, the Buildings Directive should be extended and made more ambitious.

The transport area is a very critical one. We welcome the fact that shipping and aviation are to be included in climate policy. We recommend rapid measures designed to make railway transport more efficient. We think that we must draw the right conclusions from the difficulties in reducing road traffic emissions. We need, and therefore propose, ambitious and binding rules governing carbon dioxide emissions from new vehicles. We need to help put new technologies – which do exist – on the market. There are, however, a great many obstacles. One of these is, of course, the fact that we continue to subsidise conventional technology, that is to say technology powered by fossil fuels. We need to develop emissions trading, but we must of course ensure that the allowance is not as ambitious as it was last year. Instead, we must lower the ceiling step by step. We must invite other actors to participate in this process so that we in Europe do not become the only market.

The majority of the measures proposed in the report are aimed at companies and manufacturers. We also think there needs to be more active involvement on the part of our citizens. The life-styles of all of us affect developments. We have an idea about, in the long run, considering some form of emissions trading at the level of the individual. Perhaps that is impossible to implement in practice, but a first step should be to increase knowledge both of the carbon content of everything we buy and of the carbon emitted by our forms of transport.

We in Parliament and in the European institutions should naturally practise what we preach. We should ensure that, for example, our buildings and forms of transport go as easy on carbon as possible. There is a lot to do in this area. In conclusion, I want to wish both the Commission and the Council good luck in Montreal. You must ensure that the EU can continue to play a leading role and you must propel international work on climate change in the direction of achieving positive results.

  Paul Verges (GUE/NGL), draftsman of the opinion of the Committee on Development. – (FR) Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Committee on Development, I should like to begin by congratulating our fellow Member, Mr Wijkman, on his excellent report on climate change.

As draftsman of this committee, I should like to make a few brief remarks of a general nature. Our fellow Member is right to emphasise that, although global warming represents an environmental challenge, it is above all a challenge for development.

In actual fact, climate change is, in our opinion, a real concern for civilisation. That is why our committee was keen to highlight that the combined effects of climate change, of worldwide demographic changes and of economic globalisation open the doors to an unprecedented period of instability in the history of humankind. There are indeed grounds for fearing that, in this context, global warming will increase the divide between the developed world and countries whose development is lagging behind. There is, unfortunately, no doubt that these countries will be affected most by the impacts of climate change. This is particularly the case as regards the small island states, which are vulnerable in more ways than one, above all in the face of hurricanes and of rising sea levels.

That is why we believe that providing aid to enable these countries to adapt in the face of the impacts of climate change must be one of the priorities of the European Union’s development aid policy. We recommend that the European Union develop a specific cooperation policy for developing countries. You will have realised that, as far as the Committee on Development is concerned, the fight against climate change is therefore irrevocably tied to the fight against poverty and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

The report is also right to emphasise the mitigation efforts that still need to be made in order to achieve the Kyoto Protocol’s objectives. Just one question to conclude, Madam President: while, today, 20% of the planet’s population consumes 80% of the world’s energy, how polluted will the atmosphere be in around 2050 at a time when the energy requirements of between nine and ten billion people will have to be met?

  Cristina Gutiérrez-Cortines, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group. – (ES) Madam President, it is clear that climate change is so intense and so close to us that it is no longer an intellectual problem or a problem affecting certain more sensitive groups which had raised the issue.

This is an opportunity to change our habits and customs, it is an opportunity to reduce emissions and to create cleaner air, it is an opportunity to develop renewable and alternative energy sources and it is also an opportunity for Europe to look at its dependence on fossil fuels, often in areas with great political instability and subject to dramatic price fluctuations. I therefore believe that it also opens up the opportunity to look again at nuclear energy as one of the many solutions, in addition to other alternatives.

We must still greatly improve research into and knowledge of the causes of climate change. For example, very little research has been done on the relationship between agriculture and climate change. Recent research has raised an alarm and opened up another direction; we are only blaming industry for the problem. I believe that we should create an intelligent form of agriculture which is geared towards those strategies; that would be much safer from a scientific point of view.

Furthermore, I believe that we must also make improvements in relation to quotas, the mathematical models for setting quotas; there are still many countries that are not doing so correctly, while others have found good solutions, such as the British.

I also believe that we must seek strategies for compensating for climate change and determining the extent to which it can be alleviated. I believe that we must review our policy on drought and desertification in the Mediterranean and deal with the suffering and deterioration of the eco-system and of our animal resources and fauna.

  Gyula Hegyi, on behalf of the PSE Group. – Madam President, we have seen the faces of the victims of the New Orleans hurricane and flood. Global warming does not mean actual warming in every single part of the world. It means a growing number of disasters, for instance weather irregularities, huge losses of lives and valuables. We simply use too much fossil energy. If the developing nations, including almost three billion people in China and India, follow the American way of consumption then we will burn up our planet. That is why on behalf of the Socialist Group I welcome Mr Wijkman’s brave report.

Nice words are not enough, however. We have to urge our partners to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. We have to find allies for this goal among broadminded politicians and citizens in the US who understand the importance of sustainable development.

In order to reduce emissions we need a strong shift to public transport. Rail is five times more efficient than road transport. Furthermore, it is environmentally friendly. But the European Union still lacks the proper tools to encourage it. The EU does not have any projects to improve urban public transport, and the growing number of cars in our cities means that urban life is becoming more and more chaotic and unhealthy. Our urban population deserves more care from us as politicians as regards clean air and good public transport.

Renewable energies are developing in some countries, but in other Member States only a few steps have been taken. We need binding targets if not for 2010 then at least for 2020.

There is one point on which I would contradict Mrs Beckett. I think that semi-solutions such as carbon storage cannot be a solution for the future. Instead of hiding our growing emissions temporarily, we have to reduce them. If a nuclear power station is to be closed down for any reason it should be replaced only by renewable energies. Closing nuclear power stations and using more fossil energy would be a kind of collective suicide.

  Caroline Lucas, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, I should like to thank the Commission and Council for their statements. I have to say though that I do not share Mrs Beckett’s upbeat assessment of how the European Union is doing, despite the British Government’s pledge to make climate change a priority for its Presidency. Progress on the ground has been very disappointing. Hearing the G8 communiqué on climate change being called ambitious stretches the English language almost to breaking point. If the British Presidency is genuinely going to show international leadership on this subject, then it has to get its own house in order first.

Earlier this year, we commissioned a report from the Association for the Conservation of Energy to assess how well this government has been implementing existing European laws on reducing fossil-fuel use. Their findings made clear that this is a government which has delayed implementation of the directive on the energy performance of buildings, demanded an increase in the UK’s level of CO2 emissions permitted under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, failed to set binding targets for energy-demand reduction under the energy services directive, and failed to promote small-scale combined heat and power plants in line with the cogeneration directive.

This is why the Council should take particular notice of the European Parliament’s report on climate change, which has been expertly drafted by Anders Wijkman. There they will find a genuinely bold and ambitious call to action. In particular, the report demands strong emission reductions at home, starting with 20% to 30% domestic reductions in the EU by 2020, increasing to between 60% and 80% by 2050. It calls for the goal to make Europe the most energy-efficient economy in the world by setting targets for annual reduction in energy of the order of 2.5% to 3% and for a robust strategy for Montreal. And, in our amendment, the Greens are calling on the EU to ensure a formal mandate and timetable for negotiating future climate commitments with a time limit for achieving agreement at the end of 2008.

I want to end with two quick questions for the Council. First, what is its view on contraction and convergence as a framework for future action? Second, alongside the inclusion of aviation in the emissions trading scheme, will the Council propose instruments in parallel to tackle the full climate impact of aviation since, as we know, the Emissions Trading Scheme will not cover emissions that are not CO2 related?

  Kartika Tamara Liotard, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group. – (NL) Madam President, to cut straight to the point, a free market system is not the best solution to the problem of climate change. An unbridled free-market economy without any restrictions to excess consumption and products leads to the increasing emission of greenhouse gases and thus exacerbates the problem. Economic growth is like a sacred cow: it is sacrosanct, with each and every consumer product required to be available on the market across the world at the same time. We have to remember, though, that sacred cows can also spread harmful gases, and that is not just metaphorically the case, but also literally true, if one considers the proportion of intensive cattle farming in the level of CO2 emissions.

The nuclear energy lobby has seized the issue of climate change to put itself back on the map. Strangely, they do not breathe a word about the enormous waste mountains they create for us and which will present us with major problems for the next ten thousand years. We should not attempt to solve one environmental crisis by creating another. The billions that are still being pumped into the development and promotion of nuclear energy could be spent more wisely on wind, solar and hydraulic energy.

Emission levels in the transport sector will, in 2030, still be 28% above the 1990 level. Its symbolic value for an international free market economy makes it a difficult sector in which to take measures, and so I would call for taxes on air and maritime transport. In contrast to the trade in emission rights, we cannot, by means of taxation, pass the problem to developing countries.

  Johannes Blokland, on behalf of the IND/DEM Group. – (NL) Madam President, I am impressed with the work schedule presented in this House yesterday by the President of the Commission, Mr Barroso. It contains many valid points with regard to beating climate change too. For example, I warmly support the inclusion of air traffic within the scope of the emission trade system, as well as the revision of the Directive on national emission ceilings, which dates back to 2001. Even so, the Commission has not, to my mind, been very ambitious in this respect. For years, we have been discussing drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, but emission levels are still increasing year after year, not only worldwide, but also within the various Member States.

If we want to be taken seriously in Montreal, we should not only dare mention reductions, but also commit to really taking measures this time. If necessary, we should involve a smaller number of countries. I urge Commissioner Dimas to present a strategy that contains measures which can help us achieve our long-term goal, for despite the positive effect the proposals that have been presented here this week have had, it is only short-term vision that inspires them.

  Liam Aylward, on behalf of the UEN Group. – Madam President, a decade ago there was much speculation about climate change, but today it is very much a reality as we see the future unfolding before our eyes. The Arctic people see it in disappearing Arctic ice; the shantytown dwellers of Latin America and southern Asia see it in lethal storms and floods; Europeans see it in disappearing glaciers, forest fires and fatal heatwaves. In Brazil this year, for example, while hurricanes thousands of miles away battered the United States and the Caribbean with water and wind, residents of a small fishing town deep in the Amazon region watched the lake on which they depend for food and transportation shrivel away in a year which saw the region’s worst drought in four decades: the result of warmer ocean water, which has also been blamed for one of the most violent hurricane seasons on record in the Gulf of Mexico.

The signing of the ratification protocol for Kyoto by some of the major players has been a much-welcomed event. The Kyoto Protocol is off life support because the Russian Federation ratified it. However, major players now need to be more proactive in convincing countries with the highest levels of pollution: the United States and developing countries.

I remain deeply concerned that the United States continues to choose to tackle the climate change issue through unilateral activities. Climate change needs to be dealt with as a global problem. If carbon dioxide is not reduced, the Arctic ice cover will disappear. That will affect the quality of life in particular of those living in coastal regions and island communities. That is a scientific fact, not a passionate policy comment on my part.

Ireland is much more energy efficient than it was a decade ago. I encourage other Member States to follow suit. Tackling climate change was never labelled as being easy, but complacency in dealing with it is far worse.

What is a fact, and what surprises many people, is that because of the level of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere, we are already committed to a significant amount of global warming and rising sea levels. If we became a perfect pupil now in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, we would still suffer from past pollution, but the longer we wait to tackle greenhouse gas emissions in a serious manner, the more entrenched the commitment is.

Temperature rises have already been noted. The half-a-degree temperature rise is similar to that observed at the end to the twentieth century. However, what is more alarming is the projected sea-level rise, which is more than twice the three-inch rise that occurred during the latter part of the previous century. Those numbers do not take into account the fresh water from melting ice sheets and glaciers, which could at least double the sea-level rise caused by thermal expansion alone.

Scientists have claimed that water temperatures in the North Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico have been as much as 3.6 degrees higher than normal this year. That has helped to feed the hurricanes that have devastated the US Gulf coast and the Caribbean. It has also helped to generate the warmer-than-normal air currents that have poured into the Amazon basin and prevented rain clouds from forming. Greenpeace has warned that this year’s experience could be a sign of things to come if practices such as deforestation and emissions of heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere do not stop.

By tackling climate change in a serious manner, we not only help to preserve our planet for our grandchildren and future generations, but we would also save them and ourselves monetary cost, given that the climate change costs incurred as we aim to protect disappearing species and habitats are very high.

Evolving players such as South Asia, Latin America and Africa require emission reduction policies that will not harm their economic development. Climate change policies thus need to be designed to contribute to economic growth in the developing countries.

As I travel to Montreal next month as part of the European delegation, I look forward to seeing the global players face the reality of this year and work together as partners in tackling this extremely important global problem.

IN THE CHAIR: MR ONYSZKIEWICZ
Vice-President

  Irena Belohorská (NI). – (SK) Europe was among the first regions in the world to record the climatic changes that are the consequence of dangerous global climatic shifts. Summers have become warmer, winters have become rainy, river flows have dwindled, soil humidity has diminished and we have recorded more floods, as well as extreme droughts and hurricanes.

There is no doubt that these changes spring directly from human activity, mainly in the developed countries that are mostly responsible for high emissions of greenhouse gases. The largest polluters include the European Union. Each year, disasters cause significant economic loss, loss of life and an increased incidence of the many diseases linked to environmental pollution. Joint action by the biggest polluters – China, the United States, the European Union and India – in the fight against climatic changes is essential.

It is unrealistic to expect that mankind will give up the conveniences of modern life such as automobiles and other means of transport, in favour of bicycles. What we need is therefore innovation in respect of existing technologies and the development of more environmentally friendly sources of power. It is necessary to use more solar, water and wind power, and to boost research into these new forms of energy.

In Europe, we are witnessing the exodus of our young scientists to the United States, because Europe does not offer them adequate resources for carrying out effective research to a high standard in this area. In addition, there are some fields of research that are not even covered in Europe. Climatic change will have an impact on the health of Europeans. As a result of climatic changes, Europe will be exposed to diseases that are not indigenous to this continent, being more typical of geographical zones lying further to the south. Global warming may increase the incidence of infectious diseases transmitted by arthropods, such as mosquitoes spreading malaria or certain viral inflammations of the brain.

  Peter Liese (PPE-DE). – (DE) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, let me start by making the observation that the Council Presidency left us waiting some 10 to 15 minutes for the beginning of this debate. I would welcome at least an explanation and an apology; perhaps we will get one.

I wish to express my gratitude to Mr Wijkman for his dedication and hard work. His was no easy task, and it is surely no secret that there have been debates within the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats, although we have been able to satisfactorily resolve these issues. The report we have in front of us is a good one, and there is one particular aspect of it that I would like to highlight. In Germany, there has been since Monday an agreement on a new Great Coalition, aspects of which agreement have come in for justified criticism: there are some compromises that not everyone can go along with.

The chapters on the environment, energy and climate change are, however, perfectly respectable, and I believe that they will enable Europe, too, to make progress. Much in the coalition agreement is identical with what the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety has proposed in the Wijkman report, and that is an encouragement to the Commission to redouble its commitment to pursuing its objectives in such areas as air travel.

Where renewable energies are concerned, we – not only in the German Great Coalition but also in the amendments we have tabled to the Wijkman report – want a new priority to be given to heating, an area in which, for little expense, we can save a great deal of CO2, and it is for that reason that the Commission wanted to table a proposal for a directive on the subject.

There is, I think, one issue that neither the Great Coalition in Germany nor the Environment Committee have satisfactorily resolved, and that is nuclear energy. I agree with Mrs Gutiérrez that nuclear energy is indispensable if we are to solve the climate problem.

I would, nevertheless, like to see the report gain a large and convincing majority, and let me conclude by emphasising what Mr Wijkman said about there being a security problem as well. According to one study by the Pentagon, climate change will, in the long term, represent a greater danger to the human race than international terrorism. That should make it clear to one and all, that now is the time for action.

  Dorette Corbey (PSE). – (NL) Mr President, I should first of all like to thank Mr Wijkman for his excellent and hard-hitting report. I would also like to congratulate Mrs Beckett on her commitment to climate policy. Today, this House is once again calling for an ambitious climate policy and Commissioner Dimas has explained why it has every reason to do so.

In Montreal, we have to lay the foundations for a new climate policy. We are faced with the enormous challenge of providing clean energy and cleaner transport, whilst at the same time reducing energy consumption.

So far, Europe has played a leading role, which has really paid off. We certainly have something to celebrate in Montreal.

Europe’s key task is now to ensure that the largest CO2 emitter, the United States, will also accept obligations and that the involvement of such countries as China and India in the entire process will be honest. That can only be done if the EU addresses the problems itself and demonstrates that the European economy will, in fact, be given an enormous shot in the arm by innovation, by being more energy efficient, by more efficient production and by bringing sustainable products onto the market. Unfortunately, though, except for Great Britain, most countries do not meet the obligations themselves and sadly, the cleanest and most economical cars do not originate in Europe but in Japan. We need to do better and do more! That is only possible if we involve the public in climate policy.

(Applause)

  Alyn Smith (Verts/ALE). – Mr President, I heartily endorse the comments of my group colleague, Dr Lucas, on the UK Government’s fairly patchy record on seriously tackling climate change. However, if the Council is looking for some ambition, then it could do worse than to carefully examine and adopt Mr Wijkman’s report.

The fact is that we need a step change in the way we debate climate change, particularly among the public. We must start with our own actions, because those are the actions we can control best. We need to realise that if we embrace the challenge, we can profit by our own example. Renewable energy is the key plank of the solution. My own country, Scotland, could lead the world in clean, green renewable energy. We have waves, a long coastline, windswept hills, biomass and geothermal power, and the raw material for hydroelectric power falls from the sky on a regular basis, and yet we are not nearly investing sufficiently in renewable technologies in Scotland or in Europe. In the case of Scotland, this is because the United Kingdom controls energy policy and remains wedded to a nuclear agenda, which I believe offers no long-term solution.

We in this House can play our part in this step change on renewable energy and the debate on climate change, and we must unite around Mr Wijkman’s report. The Commission can play its part by prioritising renewable energy in the FP7 Programmes.

  Roberto Musacchio (GUE/NGL). – (IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the greenhouse effect is the greatest problem that we have to face, because it involves a structural change in the conditions needed for life. Our ability to address this problem has to be an essential element in what we do. To that end, we must accept the Kyoto strategy and its implementation as overriding factors in all our decisions, as a legal basis and a basis for planning, and as a key factor in Europe’s internal and international policies from Montreal onwards.

The main thrusts of the Kyoto Protocol, namely convergence and contraction, show that our development and economic models need to change radically and to be geared towards a fairer, more rational way of managing resources. I think we can achieve a figure of one tonne-of-oil equivalent per person. Such a commitment should encourage us to save energy and to use alternative, renewable, democratically managed sources.

Any idea of resorting to nuclear energy – which is a finite and extremely hazardous source that entails unsolvable problems such as nuclear waste, and is not democratic – to meet this target and this need would be utterly unacceptable.

  Urszula Krupa (IND/DEM).  – (PL) Mr President, I find it hard to lend my approval to a report which contains so few constructive suggestions regarding practical steps that can be taken to prevent climate change, and which also includes no financial analysis. In addition, the Millennium Development Goals and compliance with the recommendations contained in the Kyoto Protocol are insufficient on their own. The latter commits individual governments and companies to a policy of implementing programmes aimed at reducing greenhouse gases and at putting in place emissions trading systems and energy saving regulations.

The main responsibility for environmental destruction lies with the industrialised countries. The liberal lifestyles they enjoy and the consumer behaviour they promote lie at the root of this disaster, which has unimaginable consequences for health and for the future of the earth in general. Above and beyond the measures to which previous speakers have already referred, equal importance should therefore be attached to changing people’s mindsets and to ensuring that they develop as individuals. This has rightly been described as the move towards a culture of satisfaction, and it reverses the trend towards possession at any price and the unchecked accumulation of goods.

  Bruno Gollnisch (NI). – (FR) Mr President, although global warming today appears to be an obvious fact, it is still a good idea to verify the analyses that attribute it almost exclusively to greenhouse gases, something that certain scientists dispute on the grounds that there might be other causes. That being said, if it is proven that greenhouse gases are almost exclusively the cause, environmentalists should ask themselves whether they might not have gone too far in their relentless fight against any form of nuclear power, which undoubtedly presents risks, but which does not emit any greenhouse gases.

As the Wijkman report proposes, alternative energy sources must be encouraged, particularly solar and geothermal energy. Such heavy restrictions cannot, however, be imposed on European countries alone, when China, the United States and a good many other countries are hugely increasing their CO2 emissions. As for the storage of carbon dioxide, allow me to recommend a natural, efficient and beneficial method, namely reforestation, all the more so because systematic reforestation could be the subject of a wide-ranging international cooperation programme.

  Avril Doyle (PPE-DE). – Mr President, the debate is just about over and the scientific jury is largely agreed on the impact of greenhouse gases on our climate. Economic losses due to weather-related natural catastrophes have increased six-fold since the 1960s. The earth’s temperature is rising at an alarming rate. The EU 15 will not meet their current Kyoto targets on CO2 emissions reduction and nothing will be done about that.

At the COP 11/MOP 1 meeting in Montreal next month, the focus will be on post-Kyoto and on what happens beyond 2012. Without genuine global cooperation, particularly from the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gases, the US, any agreement will be meaningless. It is a huge challenge. We await the Commission’s review of the operation of the emissions trading regime next June to keep the cynics and the ‘I told you so’s’ at bay and to maintain the credibility of the emissions trading scheme. It is essential that we broaden its scope and set horizontal sectoral targets. Too many sectors are excluded, which creates gaps and inefficiencies in the market, which risk pushing up the cost of doing business. We are still only paying lip service to the whole area of energy efficiency, which has an enormous contribution to make. We also need to focus on the development of substitute fuels and alternative technologies. Public transport vehicles and captive fleets should use clean and alternative fuels to provide a stimulus for the market, for the private sector, and to kick start the process of installing a network of forecourt outlets.

We need excise regimes that favour bio-fuels and bio-flexi-fuels. Why not legislate for all motor fuels to include a blend of fuel from renewable sources, for example 5% bio-ethanol mix in petrol, 2% bio-diesel mix in diesel vehicles, without any alteration necessary to the vehicles? We need some radical thinking and radical action. If we are convinced that CO2 emissions need to be reduced dramatically, then we have to stop tinkering at the margins of renewable energy and to achieve genuine liberalisation for electricity markets. Let us put our money where our mouth is, look at FP7 and invest in this area.

  Anne Ferreira (PSE). – (FR) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Mr Wijkman’s report deserves our full attention. This text must be considered as our road map to enable us to fight more effectively against climate change in the years to come. The paths laid out are realistic, so it is up to us to adhere to them as rigorously as possible by relying on all the partners involved in implementing the report, from the Member States to the people, and by changing our production and consumption methods.

If there is, however, one crucial area in which we must have a far greater involvement by providing ourselves with financial resources equal to what is at stake, it is that of research policy, for there can be no new technologies or innovations without research. Our researchers’ grey matter constitutes a resource for the European Union that we must optimise in order to rise to the challenge of sustainable development and climate change, without overlooking, of course, our responsibility towards the poorest countries. Thus, in the future, we will need to have a research budget that is equal to our ambitions.

  Lena Ek (ALDE). – (SV) Mr President, it was gratifying to hear Commissioner Dimas express his support at the Beijing International Energy Conference the other day for Parliament’s ambition of having 25% renewable energy by 2020, just as it was also gratifying to hear the Commissioner say that renewable energy is crucial to overcoming problems such as climate change and poverty and promoting general economic development.

If we are to create a market for renewable energy, the costs of today’s unsustainable dependence on fossil-based energy sources must, however, be clearly shown. It is not just a question of showing the effects on the environment and public health of sky-high emission levels. Rather, the effects must also be expressed in terms of euros and cents. Europe has already introduced a market-governed system of emissions trading. Certainly, the part played by aviation in the system is the subject of discussion, but I also want to see marine transport and, above all, land-based traffic included. It will only be once we clearly see the costs entailed in carbon dioxide emissions from this sector that we shall seriously boost the demand for, and the supply of, renewable energy sources.

My first question, then, is about whether – and, if so, when – the Commission intends to include the transport sector in European emission rights trading. My second question is about the proportion of renewable energy sources. We wish to increase these, but they do, of course, need also to be used. When does the Commission intend proposing that the Auto Oil Directive, as it is called, be replaced by a minimum 10% admixture of ethanol in vehicle fuel?

  Bairbre de Brún (GUE/NGL). – (The speaker spoke Irish)

Mr Wijkman’s report makes it clear that living up to the Kyoto requirements is the first priority of the EU. Whilst Kyoto is only a small step in the fight against climate change, we must throw our support behind it and urge those who have not signed up to do so immediately.

This morning I was glad to hear the Commission and the Council stress the importance of the next phase, because the real challenge is to set ambitious targets for the post-2012 period and to get all the major world actors involved. I also want to support the amendments made by my colleagues in the GUE/NGL Group, particularly the assertion that the promotion of an unbridled free market has led to excess consumption, which in turn leads to increased emissions of greenhouse gases.

(The speaker spoke Irish)

  Georgios Karatzaferis (IND/DEM). – (EL) Mr President, I wanted us to talk about a very serious issue. I wonder how many women this morning did not spray lacquer on their hair and which of us did not use an underarm spray. In this way, we are helping to create the greenhouse effect. They are simple things which even we overlook.

You are labouring in vain in your efforts, Mr Dimas, if you do not bring the Americans into the rules. Let me quote you two statistics: the United States emits more pollutants than three-quarters of the members of the UN and the state of New York emits the same pollutants as the whole of Africa. Consequently, whatever we do in Europe, unless we persuade the usual wayward party, by which I mean the United States, to take its responsibility, we shall fail. This is a tragic truth.

We also need to see what is going to be done by China, as the most highly populated country in the world which alone has one quarter of the world's population. Whatever we do in Europe, we will not achieve results. We have the huge problem of the climate, which knows no borders. We cannot put up barbed wire fences. So we need to convince the Americans if we want to avoid disastrous results. The course which is being traced with mathematical precision is that we shall suffer the same fate as the dinosaurs. We all need to understand that the threat from Bin Laden and terrorism is much smaller than the environmental threat hanging over the Americans. Consequently, if we want to achieve results, we need to bring the Americans into the rules.

  Françoise Grossetête (PPE-DE). – (FR) Mr President, Mr Dimas, Mrs Beckett, only a few years ago, when climate change was being discussed, some people would smile dubiously. Today, no one questions the obvious fact that these changes are taking place. There is even a sense of urgency. We must act immediately in order to respond to this threat, which is undoubtedly one of the most serious in the history of humankind, with a growing number of floods, droughts and hurricanes, a melting ice cap, our melting glaciers and perhaps, one day, the development of certain diseases.

In the face of this threat, therefore, we have an unprecedented opportunity to launch a real technological programme, enabling us to foster the innovation that we desperately require in order to create new jobs in Europe. Europe and the world have held a great many debates, but acts are not enough. The time has therefore come to have the political courage to give new impetus to the Kyoto Protocol. Biofuels, solar energy, wind energy, hydroelectric energy, hydrogen, energy efficiency efforts: these technologies exist. It is up to us to speed up their use in our urban planning policies and our construction methods.

We need to make use of all the possibilities offered to us. There is no one ideal solution. Rather, we must combine the use of these different sources. There are still too many restrictions on the implementation and marketing of technological innovations such as hybrid and electric vehicles. Our fellow citizens are ready to assume their share of responsibility for this kind of energy control. The United States, India and China are already taking initiatives, particularly in the field of nuclear energy. It will be impossible for us to overlook nuclear energy, which does not emit any greenhouse gases. What is Europe waiting for, moreover, to really open the debate - a serious debate, devoid of passion - on nuclear energy? I call on you not to hold it up.

  Marie-Noëlle Lienemann (PSE). – (FR) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, in order to be credible in the eyes of Europeans, the European Union has to leave its good intentions to one side and act practically by providing itself with ambitions linked to investments. How much money will be allocated to road-rail transport? When will we have trans-European networks, which we are still waiting for? When will we have CAP appropriations for biofuels? When will we see an increase in the research budgets designed to meet the great energy challenges, such as those relating to the hydrogen sector? When will we see the Structural Funds and grants adjusted with a view to energy efficiency and energy saving? I am thinking of the urban environment, housing and social housing. When will we see ecotaxes levied on the carriage of goods, particularly in relation to sea transport? When will we see a regulation of trade from the perspective of the fight against the greenhouse effect? We are waiting for practical and operational responses, laying the ground for immediate action. The European Union must act here and now in order to convince people, in order to serve as an example and in order to form new partnerships with the countries of the South. We are still only at the stage of intentions. Let us move on to actions.

  Gunnar Hökmark (PPE-DE). – (SV) Mr President, I wish to thank Mr Wijkman for a balanced report on an important issue. I should like to emphasise that it is at present difficult to see Europe achieving the Kyoto objectives, for they are very demanding and the policy now being conducted does not look as if it will lead to our being able to fulfil these objectives at the first stage. One reason for this is that the demands made by a modern environmental policy on energy policy are largely ignored.

If we consider the conditions as they stand, we shall not be able to fulfil the Kyoto objectives in terms of expectations concerning renewable fuels. Such fuels will be developed and will play a larger role, but they will not solve the problems. We cannot achieve the Kyoto objectives by regulating the economy or making savings, because such measures would interfere with the aim of creating basic conditions for a better economy that does more to meet environmental requirements. We cannot solve the problems by causing the economy to grow more slowly. Instead, we must conduct an environmental policy compatible with a consistent and credible energy policy, in which case we must also look at the basis of our energy supply.

Oil and gas are not the way of the future, yet we see how it is, above all, the use of oil and gas that increases when nuclear power is phased out, the consequence being growing carbon dioxide emissions. With the present energy mix, nuclear power production in Europe accounts for 50% of carbon dioxide emissions and leads to reduced carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to those from private cars. This shows the kind of figures we are talking about. That being the case, nuclear power cannot be dismissed. Nuclear power will not solve our environmental problems, but those problems cannot be solved and the Kyoto objectives achieved by ignoring nuclear power. It is therefore an important task for this Parliament and also for the Member States to conduct a credible energy policy not aimed at phasing out nuclear power and replacing it by oil and gas. Instead, we should ensure that nuclear power can play a significant role in the balanced energy policy that is needed.

  Justas Vincas Paleckis (PSE). – (LT) I would like to welcome Mr Anders Wijkman and others who share the belief that saving the planet is our own concern, not somebody else’s.

The European Union must exercise all the influence it can to urge countries that still have not joined the Kyoto Protocol, even the most powerful ones, to do so. It would be naïve to claim that had the USA fulfilled the Kyoto Protocol requirements it would not have been devastated by the Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma. But Nature did strike back at precisely the state that harms it most. Unless the international community takes urgent and drastic measures to stop the further spread of global warming, our planet will turn into a hurricane bearing, fire and water- spitting monster.

The present report rightly offers to make the EU an even more prominent leader in terms of the use of renewable energy sources. I also express my full support of the proposal with respect to increasing the awareness of EU citizens and involving them in environmental preservation. We need to devote further energy to the development of a tax, sanctioning and promotion system that would encourage companies to operate in an efficient and environmentally friendly way. Even more important is the lifestyle. Each citizen of the EU should realise that living with the least possible pollution and tampering with the climate of the planet is not only noble and beautiful, but also a worthwhile undertaking.

  Bogusław Sonik (PPE-DE).  – (PL) Mr President, at the end of this month and the beginning of the next, the European Parliament will once again present its position on climate change at a UN conference. Before this position is submitted to the international community for debate, it is crucial to ensure that it reflects the best interests of all EU Member States. As Mrs Grossetête and Mr Hökmark rightly noted, the role of nuclear energy should also be given due consideration.

Greenhouse gas emissions are still on the increase in many Member States. Individual citizens will therefore have to play a greater part in joint efforts to limit emissions and to find a more sustainable lifestyle if the UN Convention and the Kyoto Protocol are to be fully implemented. In this connection, an important aspect of the fight to reduce CO2 emissions is the integrated approach, which involves politicians, industry and society.

Adopting this integrated approach would be a more effective and less expensive way of reducing CO2 emissions. It is based on the assumption that the responsibility for reducing emissions lies not only with car manufacturers and fuel suppliers, but also with vehicle users. Other factors that warrant our attention include road infrastructure conditions and road traffic management systems, as indicated in the European Climate Change Programme II launched in October 2005.

Although the shift from a fossil fuel-based economy presents us with an historic business opportunity, it should not be forgotten that many countries with abundant renewable energy resources do not currently have the technologies needed to harness these latter. This is particularly true in the case of developing countries. The issue of energy subsidies is therefore very relevant to negotiations on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Many methods have already been found to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Energy-saving and low-emission technologies are an effective tool in the fight against environmental pollution, but they should not be combined with the reduction in fossil fuel subsidies proposed by the rapporteur as a sine qua non for the use of modern environmental protection solutions.

  Edite Estrela (PSE). – (PT) Mr President, Minister, Commissioner, as a great Indian leader once said, the earth does not belong to us, we borrowed it from our children.

If we lose the battle against climate change, what kind of earth are we going to leave our children? The diagnosis has been made. All that is missing is the courage to put into practice more ambitious and effective policies. Mr Wijkman’s report is a step in the right direction. Actions speak louder than words and, in accordance with the Lisbon Strategy, new technology must be adopted, and the international community must strive to honour the obligations of the Kyoto Convention.

The United States must assume its responsibilities. I welcome EU dialogue with China and India, but it is also necessary to involve countries such as Brazil, South Africa, Russia, Japan and Indonesia and to remove contradictions such as fossil fuel subsidies. Mr Dimas said that the Montreal Conference will not produce all of the solutions we are looking for. Some solutions, however, are expected to come out of it. Our children and future generations expect nothing less.

  Richard Seeber (PPE-DE). – (DE) Mr President, Commissioner, Mrs Beckett, I am glad that the Council Presidency is following our debate, and, before I say anything else, I would like to thank my good friend Mr Wijkman for the very ambitious report that he has put together on this subject.

The need for action is simply illustrated by the natural phenomena going on all around us, be it the fires raging through Southern Europe, the hurricanes in America or, indeed, the floods in the Austrian Tyrol, from which I come. There is one mistake, though, that we cannot allow ourselves: we must be careful not to attribute everything to worldwide climate change or to say that such change is caused only by man-made CO2 emissions and is in some sense our own fault. It is an unfortunate fact that effects occurring in nature are overlapping with those attributable to human agency; greater efforts must be made to research this area if it is to be possible in future to deliver reliable prognoses of climate development and, above all, to assess the effect of human activity.

It is also important, though, that long-term strategies should be in place to enable us to respond, and in order to give us the security to plan ahead. It quite simply has to be brought home to business and industry where this road leads and what options will be available to them in the future. That is of immense importance for Europe as a business location. Let us also bear in mind the fact that the Community is currently responsible for only 14% of CO2 emissions, and so it is vitally important that not only the developing countries, but also, of course the USA – which is the principal source of emissions – should be brought on board. The point in the report that needs to be underlined several times over is the one that says: ‘we need a global strategy’.

I have to say that I am not in agreement with my colleagues as regards nuclear energy, which I do not regard as an alternative to those technologies that produce CO2, since its long-term effects are too negative. Most of all, we must not offer it to the developing countries as an alternative, quite simply because it cannot be safely used in them.

It is also important that we give more attention to transport and attempt in that area simply to make full use of the potential for CO2 reduction.

  Rebecca Harms (Verts/ALE), draftsman of the opinion of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. – (DE) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I shall use this opportunity to carry on where the previous speaker left off. I have to say, following my visit to the United Kingdom last week, that I find it very irritating that Tony Blair and others are steering the climate change debate towards the idea that climate protection targets might be achieved by the greater use of nuclear power, which would produce energy that is alleged to be cleaner.

I would like to take this opportunity to disabuse you of a misconception, and to ask what you, in England, currently mean when you talk about cleaner nuclear energy. Are you talking about the extraction of uranium, which is a peculiarly filthy business? Are you talking about fuel enrichment, which is particularly dirty? Are you talking about the conversion of uranium hexafluoride, which is a very difficult process involving high levels of environmental pollution? When you talk about clean atomic energy, do you mean the manufacture of fuel rods in Russia? Have you, in England, ever discussed how much waste you will have to dispose of, and when and at what cost you will do that? How do you assess the dangers and risks involved in reprocessing? Windscale is an example of the great experience you have had with the real damage reprocessing does to the environment and to people. I am quite astonished that it is the British of all people, who in fact abandoned nuclear energy on economic grounds, who are pushing forward this crazy debate on ‘climate protection through increased use of nuclear energy’.

Let us just consider the global picture: if we want to be really efficient in making a contribution through nuclear energy to protecting the climate, we will have to build hundreds, thousands more nuclear reactors. That would, in fact, involve the massive expansion of a new generation of fast breeders, which have already proved such a devastating failure in Europe. It would involve the operation of reprocessing facilities throughout the world, because the stocks of uranium available would be nowhere near sufficient for such an expansion of nuclear energy.

To engage in such expansion at a time when we are debating terrorism and the risks of proliferation is irresponsible. Even though it is far more difficult to address the problems of energy by means of maximising energy efficiency, cutting back our use of it, or some other approach, let us now, at last, start doing so and keep on doing so, rather than returning to the use of a technology that is actually already consigned to the past century and the pollution and waste from which we have not yet even begun to get to grips with.

  Margaret Beckett, President-in-Office of the Council. Mr President, this has been an interesting and stimulating debate, marked by almost total welcome – quite correctly – for Mr Wijkman’s report and for its contents, and by very real agreement on the nature and scale of the challenge. It has also been marked by a strong emphasis from many speakers on renewable resources, with various examples of this being cited, and also by strong differences of opinion over nuclear power. I would say to the last speaker, Mrs Harms, that if the only aspect of the climate change debate she heard in the UK was that of nuclear power, then she must have moved in very restricted circles, because there is a great deal being discussed in the UK, which has not actually made a fresh commitment to nuclear power, despite a commitment to discussing it. In fact, energy efficiency is top of the UK’s list of policies for tackling climate change, just as she would wish.

There has been much emphasis on what are usually known in the jargon as ‘co-benefits’. Some speakers emphasised the damage caused by air pollution by the same gases that are contributing to climate change, while others emphasised that, as we tackle climate change, we will derive other potential health benefits from the reduction in the use of those gases.

Mrs Gutiérrez-Cortines asked about the role of agriculture. As she may know, in countries such as New Zealand, livestock are the source of almost all greenhouse gas emissions, making this a particularly difficult problem to solve. There is therefore no doubt that agriculture can, in certain circumstances, be part of the problem. However, as a number of speakers mentioned with regard to biomass and biofuels, it also could also be part of the solution. That is an issue that will come under increasing scrutiny.

I am sorry Mr Hegyi is opposed to carbon capture and storage. The sad and blunt fact is that countries like India and China, which need to grow and develop in order to tackle poverty – and this was another issue referred to, again quite correctly, in the debate – have huge coal reserves and will use them, because they feel they have no choice. It is surely better for us to try to find ways of helping them to do that sustainably, through technologies like carbon capture and storage, rather than simply telling them not to use those power sources, which I fear would be fruitless.

All the references made to the most vulnerable states and to the most vulnerable within other countries heighten the need for the actions the EU must take on adaptation, and support for adaptation, to impacts that we cannot avoid. Strong emphasis has been placed on the role of the many other countries involved and on the need for a global dialogue – with which the Council wholeheartedly agrees – and there is clear agreement both that the EU should continue to take the lead internationally and that we should continue to place strong emphasis on delivering on our own programmes.

Mrs Doyle and Mr Hökmark both suggested that the EU is unlikely to meet its Kyoto targets. That is not my understanding of the latest position as assessed by the Commission. However, that is a report that we will be publishing as we approach Montreal, and it certainly remains the case that we must continue to maintain and indeed step up our own activity.

That brings me to the comments by both Mrs Lucas and Mr Smith, who quite rightly praised the ambition of the Wijkman report in setting a target of a 60% reduction in emissions by 2050, without apparently being aware that this is the target the UK Government set in its own Energy White Paper in 2003. Perhaps, though, this should come as no a surprise, since Mrs Lucas had nothing good to say about the UK’s approach. However, I must put it firmly on the record for her and on behalf of this Council that it is a waste of everybody’s time to demand that the EU deliver a formal mandate and a formal timetable in Montreal. This body above all should recognise that the world of imperialism is at an end. We cannot just march into Montreal and dictate to the rest of the world how they should conduct themselves and go about their business, not least when we are talking to some of the poorest and most vulnerable countries in the world whose priority, quite rightly, is development and feeding their populations. We will not act in this manner. If we are able to kindle a dialogue and spark a process in Montreal, it will be a real and substantial achievement, just as it was a real and substantial achievement to elicit the language and secure the programme of action agreed at Gleneagles. We all agree that we ought to be moving faster, but let us at least recognise the fact that we are making some progress.

(Applause)

  Stavros Dimas, Member of the Commission. I should like to thank everyone who has participated in this rich and important debate.

The need to act urgently to tackle climate change was underlined by Mr Wijkman and others. I believe that the action taken and the series of new initiatives put forward by the Commission since the adoption of its communication in February clearly demonstrate its determination to act in this area.

The European Union's first priority in Montreal is to build broad international support for further action and obtain agreement on starting a formal process to discuss the shape of a future multilateral climate change regime. Once the discussions get going, the European Union will need to consider the right moment for putting forward its views on targets under such a future regime. Targets have proven to be a very useful tool in environmental policy making. They provide our guidance to decision-makers in society. They are particularly useful for industry and the private sector when they have to take long-term investment decisions. Targets will therefore remain a core element of any future climate change architecture. We need targets.

As you will be aware, the European Council of last March set down a pathway target of 15% to 30% of emissions reductions by 2020. However, the Commission believes that the time has not yet come to set concrete targets for developed countries in Montreal in December. That would only be done when we have more clarity on the progress of the negotiations on the post-2012 period.

Mr Seeber has underlined that any future climate change regime will have to build on broad participation on all major emitters and that is of key importance if our cooperation is to be truly efficient.

The Commission and Member States are working hard to promote deeper dialogue with the United States and developing countries. We have engaged in policy dialogue with the United States administration within the United Nations Framework Agreement on Climate Change and within other fora and meetings, such as the Joint Climate Change Science and Technology Workshop. That covers concrete topics such as renewable energy, energy efficiency and carbon sequestration.

The United States claims that is has a different approach to fighting climate change, based mainly on the research and development of new technologies. The difference between their approach and our approach is that they have seen an approximate 15% increase in carbon dioxide emissions while the European Union of 25 has seen a considerable reduction compared with 1990 levels, and the 15 member countries under the Kyoto regime obligations are 1.7% under the 1990 level. That is not enough, but we are sure that, by the end of our commitment period, we will be in compliance with our Kyoto target. This is the difference between the two approaches.

As regards developing countries, the European Union has an open mind on how they should participate in future multilateral climate cooperation. It is clear that we cannot expect the same mandatory requirements as we do from developed countries. Any commitment they take on will be based on the principle of common, but differentiated, responsibilities.

China and other developing countries have contributed to the formation of the greenhouse phenomenon by a much smaller percentage than the developed countries, and per capita emissions in China are currently less than one tenth of the levels in the developed world, so we should follow that example. Where capita income is much lower and development needs greater we have to follow what the United Nations Convention wisely prescribes as a common but differentiated policy.

Mr Verges mentioned that we should take particular care of developing countries and their increasing needs arising from global warming. We really should prepare for that impact. The Commission is already providing funding and welcomes Canada's intention to prepare a five-year work programme on adaptation at the Conference in Montreal.

In addition, the European Union is the major contributor to the 2001 Bonn Political Declaration which pledges USD 410 million per year in climate change funding for developing countries, starting this year.

At the October Environment Council, Ministers committed themselves to communicating at Montreal the progress being made towards delivery on this target. Also, to support developing countries, we have to make sure that the clean development mechanisms actually work. The key issue is the efficiency of the executive board in Bonn, and the European Union is already providing funding, but more support is clearly necessary. The European Union is still the main contributor of funds to the executive board.

There have been certain concerns about bilateral cooperation outside the United Nations context, and especially in the Asia-Pacific Partnership. Let me stress that this can in no way be viewed as an alternative to the United Nations process. However, this Partnership can support our efforts under the Climate Change Convention and the Kyoto Protocol through closer bilateral cooperation that includes both a stronger political dialogue and a focus on technology. This is also how one should see the European Union-China and European Union-India partnerships. This translates into very concrete actions: we have recently held two workshops in India and China on the Clean Development Mechanism and market-based mechanisms. In relation to China, we also see an important focus on the development and demonstration of near-zero emissions power generation, and I agree with Mrs Beckett that carbon capture and storage is one of the means of tackling the problem of climate change. It is not a cure-all, but it is one of the many means that we can use. These partnerships will have the positive and immediate effect of supporting the discussions on a multilateral climate change regime post-2012.

Mr Blokland asked about the efficiency of the European Union's current measures. If we implement all the measures in full, this will lead to a 4% reduction compared with 1990, which obviously is not sufficient to meet the target of -8% that we have set for ourselves. That is why we included additional measures in the climate change programme that we launched a month ago. This implies that we should make greater emission cuts, allowing us to reach the Kyoto target and make further progress for the period after 2012. It is important to know that, for the European Union of 25, the result with the existing measures will be -7%.

Mrs Doyle, Mrs Grossetête and others asked about emissions from cars. I fully agree that this is a vital issue and that is why, in 2006, the Commission will review the agreement with the car industry in order to assess the possibility of reaching the Community objective of 120 g/km by a certain point, having made sure, of course, that we reach the target, voluntarily agreed with the car industry in Europe, Japan and Korea, of 140 mg.

Mrs Ek referred to the inclusion of transport in European Union emissions trading. The Commission has already made a proposal with regard to aviation, as you know. The Commission will assess this for the other transport sectors as part of the 2006 review.

On renewable energy, the Commission will put forward, in the weeks to come, a new report assessing a target for renewable energy by 2020. Regarding nuclear energy and the remarks made by Mr Hökmark, some Member States expect nuclear energy to be a part of their future energy. However, we have to ensure that we have a broad range of energy sources that are low in carbon. Nuclear power will not be able to meet the increased energy demands and we should also be aware that nuclear power faces problems concerning nuclear waste and public opinion.

With regard to what Mrs Gutiérrez-Cortines said about agriculture, the Commission agrees that synergies can be found between climate change and agriculture. We had an extremely interesting meeting in London, organised by Mrs Beckett and the UK Presidency, on climate change and agriculture and very important conclusions were reached there. The Commission will be putting forward a plan in support of biofuels.

Finally, winning the battle against climate change requires determined action, starting now. It requires action, as Mr Smith said, from all actors and sectors of society. We should not underestimate the size of the challenge. Winning the battle against climate change will take time, of which we have precious little, and efforts that some will argue we cannot afford. With your continued support, we are determined to reassert the European Union's leadership in this key challenge for mankind. Thank you very much.

  President.   The debate is closed.

The vote will take place today at 12 noon.

(The sitting was suspended at 11.55 a.m. and resumed at 12.05 p.m.)

IN THE CHAIR: MR TRAKATELLIS
Vice-President