Brussels, 23/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - Internal arbitration on the European Climate/Energy framework proposal for the period to 2030 will be exceptionally complex. The binding 40% greenhouse gas emissions reduction target compared to 1990 levels is, for the moment, the least controversial within the EU, except, that is, for the environmental NGOs, which believe that it is not nearly enough. By proposing it now, the Commission hopes that it will be possible to have it approved by the European Council in March. This would mean the EU would be ready with a specific figure for the UN summit in New York this September and encourage other partners to follow this example and so ensure the success of the UN conference in Paris next year. It is still too early to tell whether Poland will agree to this figure in March.
It was with this proposal that José Manuel Barroso, the president of the Commission, travelled to the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday where the United Nations and the World Bank congratulated the Commission on its ambitious approach. The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, stated that the Commission has announced an ambitious proposal of a 40% emissions reduction by 2030 and at least a 27% target for renewable energies by the same date. He congratulated the European Commission for its leadership. The EU, he said, has set a standard that everyone else must follow. This is a critical stage in global discussions, he went on. The international agreement to be concluded in 2015 provides the opportunity for containing global temperature rises below 2°C, thereby underpinning sustainable development, he said. In September, Ban will host a climate summit in New York and he called on governments, business and the financial community to move forward with these announcements and courageous actions because the conclusion of an international agreement will require political leadership. Barroso believes that “2014 is indeed the year. If you want to be ready in 2015, for the conference in Paris where historic decisions are going to be taken, it is now that we have to prepare them”. (AN/trans.fl)