Brussels, 06/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - Addressing Australia's National University on Tuesday 6 September, José Manuel Barroso described the climate change issue as “one of the most complex and lasting issues of our time”, and said that a new framework agreement between the European Union and Australia would also increase the scope for closer cooperation on energy and climate issues. With just a few months to go before the UN climate conference in Durban (COP 17 at the end of the year), he called for a partnership to bring about a successful global carbon market and stressed the importance of combating global warming “built on science but tailored to economic realities and possibilities”. He also encouraged Canberra to bring in legislation (although this project is currently a controversial one in Australia) aimed at establishing a national system similar to the ETS (Emissions Trading System) and connected to it.
“The green economy is the economic growth story of Europe's future, and indeed the world. That is the only way to satisfy the aspirations of the nine or more billions who will live on this planet in 2050. Our approach to climate change is therefore built on science but tailored to economic realities and possibilities. You could say Europe is pursuing green reforms and innovation for three reasons: science, self-interest and our sense of responsibility to future generations. Australia must naturally define its own interests, and pursue them through the mechanisms of its choice. But it is clear that carbon pricing and trading is an opportunity for nations to firmly stake a place at the centre of the next great economic and political theme faced jointly by all of us. Those that create and dominate the new markets supporting this transition to the low-carbon economy stand to gain a great deal: competitiveness, growth and jobs”, said Barroso.
He went on to add: “The pricing and trading of carbon enables more efficient markets and forces us to allocate our resources more effectively. (…) A carbon price helps us to deal with the pressures of the globalised economy as well as the environmental threat. No nation which looks to trade as a means of prosperity can afford to overlook this”. (A.N./transl.jl)