THE EUROPEAN Parliament yesterday approved the EU’s ambitious climate change package aimed at reducing carbon emissions by 20 per cent by 2020.
Six proposals in the package, agreed by European leaders in Brussels last week, were passed by a large majority of the MEPs present. The vote marks the end of months of wrangling between member states and intense lobbying by industry representatives and environmental groups.
Fine Gael MEP Avril Doyle, who helped draft one of the key elements of the package and steered the legislation through parliament, hailed it as a landmark agreement in the fight against climate change.
“The EU is the only region in the world that currently has a functioning emissions trading system and which has put a price on carbon and which is committed to a 20 per cent unilateral reduction in our CO2 emissions. Effectively we have been the pilot project for the rest of the world,” she said.
Environmental groups, however, have said the final package was watered down by concessions to industry.
The so-called “20-20-20” climate deal will oblige EU member states to reduce CO2 emissions by 20 per cent by 2020 from 1990 levels, achieve 20 per cent energy savings and ensure renewable energy sources make up 20 per cent of the total.
The EU will bring the package to the UN climate change conference due to take place in Copenhagen next December.
The move to extend the flagship emissions trading system (ETS), for which Ms Doyle acted as rapporteur, proved one of the most controversial elements of the package. Essentially a “cap and trade” system, the ETS caps the overall level of emissions permitted but, within that limit, allows participants to buy and sell allowances as they require.
Under the ETS, companies can buy carbon credits to offset 50 per cent of their reduction efforts. The amount of emissions allowed will be reduced annually from 2013.
Among the main provisions in the Fine Gael MEP’s report is the pledge to provide 300 million allowances for the capture and storage of emissions from power stations and industrial installations.
The value of this support mechanism could amount to up to €9 billion.
Speaking after the vote, Ms Doyle said the global financial crisis should not impede efforts to stem climate change. “There’s an awful lot more we can do,” she said.
“The most important thing we can do now is ensure that we have a global climate agreement in Copenhagen next year.”