Brussels, 26/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament's environment committee is keeping up the pressure, saying that the EU's greenhouse gas emission reduction target for 2010 must be increased from the current 20% to 30% and the EU must immediately decide to offer to pledge to a high reduction target for the United Nations climate talks. Adopting a report on Tuesday 24 May by Bas Eickhout (Greens, the Netherlands), by 44 to 14 with one abstention, the committee chaired by Jo Leinen (S&D, Germany) simply added its conviction that taking determined action against climate change will be good for the climate and good for the economy. They also repeated their call on EU member states' governments to support their call for a target of 30%.
The rapporteur said the vote came at the right moment, sending an important signal to European governments to get them to increase their target, not only to deal with the climate crisis, but also to boost the economy and innovation. He said that various studies had shown that the EU's current greenhouse gas emissions target (of 20%) was totally obsolete and a substantial barrier to proactive effort to reduce emissions and invest in clean technology, thereby blocking job creation. He said he was certain that by increasing the target to 30%, millions of new jobs would be created, boosting public coffers and supplying major public health benefits, not to mention the fact that the current EU inertia over its 2010 target was a stumbling block in the international negotiations. Eickhout argued that non-EU countries had made much greater commitments than the EU and the EU's refusal to increase its target meant that it was lagging behind in international climate diplomacy.
The vote by the environment committee was welcomed by CIDSE (an umbrella group of Catholic development charities), which urges member states to agree on a collective rise in the EU's target at the 17 June Environment Council. CIDSE Secretary General Bernd Nilles said action had to be taken to make greater greenhouse gas emissions reductions for people, the planet and the economy, which governments should recognise. (A.N./transl.fl)