Brussels, 01/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - On 31 January, the committee on the environment of the European Parliament gave its unreserved support to the roadmap towards a low-carbon economy by 2050, which was presented by the Commission on 8 March (see EUROPE 10403 and 10402). Following their rapporteur Chris Davies (ALDE, United Kingdom), whose recommendations were approved by a majority (32 votes in favour, 24 against and 5 abstentions), the MEPs agreed with the specific stages laid down by the Commission to show that the EU can pull off this wager, with an objective of reducing its CO2 emissions by at least 40% between now and 2030 and by at least 80% (80% - 95%) by 2050. However, they believe that in order to succeed in this transition, the EU must finally improve its emissions trading system (ETS) to make it more efficient, lay down appropriate objectives for certain sectorial policies and encourage mass investment in green technologies. “Europe needs a spectacular increase in investments to boost the economy and create jobs, but investors must be aware of the long-term political objectives in order to take their decisions”, Chris Davies explained after the committee's vote. The Parliament's plenary vote is scheduled for the mid-March session.
Making the ETS more effective. The MEPs, who are concerned by an excessively low price per tonne for carbon (€7, against expectations of an average price of €30) and keen for investments in green technologies to be guaranteed, are calling for a “significant” number of quotas to be reserved and for the annual rate at which they are withdrawn from the trading system to be changed. “The European Commission knows that the ETS has not managed to bring about an adequate price mechanism to guide investment decisions. It must stop putting the problem off and present proposals to resolve the issues”, the rapporteur observed. The MEPs are of the opinion that the EU's ambition to have 12 carbon capture and storage projects up and running by 2015 is unrealistic, due to the shortfall in current funding. They would like to know how the Commission would like to see this shortfall remedied.
Bio-fuel, transport and agriculture. The parliamentary committee calls on the European Commission to develop sustainability criteria for biomass. The MEPs would also like the Commission to bring in ILUC (indirect land-use change) factors, in order to take account of greenhouse gas emissions caused by the production of bio-fuel.
As regards transport, the MEPs state that in the absence of an international agreement on reducing emissions from maritime transport, the Commission should continue to propose legislative measures for the EU. As for the common agricultural policy (CAP), they recommend that objectives are laid down for a sustainable use of energy in the agricultural sector. (AN/transl.fl)