Riga, 15/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - How best to reconcile the development of renewable energy and preservation of biological diversity was the major focus of the very first joint informal meeting of environment ministers and their colleagues with responsibility for energy, in Riga on Wednesday 15 April. All were in agreement that the meeting was highly successful.
Ministers said they were of the opinion that it is possible to achieve the ambition of the energy union in making the EU the global leader in renewable energy while keeping to a minimum the negative impact on biodiversity of increasingly turning to wind, solar and hydroelectric power, as long as new renewable energy projects are properly assessed and planned and member states draft national criteria to guide the development of environment-friendly renewables and share best practice.
“Mutually beneficial solutions exist for increasing the use of renewable energy and preserving biodiversity. 'Win-win' solutions need the agriculture and forestry sectors to be involved in the discussions. Good solutions are possible but the rules of the game have to be clear”, commented Karpars Gerhards, who chairs the Environment Council. He described the discussion as an “interesting contribution to the practical implementation of the future energy union and the EU strategy on biodiversity”. The previous day, environment ministers had said that the EU was at risk of failing to check biodiversity loss by 2020 (see EUROPE 11294).
Latvian Economic Affairs Minister Dana Reizniece-Ozola delivered a reminder that EU climate targets mean increased use of renewable energy - 20% of all energy consumption by 2020 and 27% by 2030. “An increase of this sort must not come at the expense of biodiversity and nature which are part of our quality of life. Power stations must be built in such a way as to have no negative impact on fish species”, she stated. She welcomed the European Parliament vote backing the agreement reached on the ILUC directive that promotes more sustainable biofuels (see EUROPE 11294).
Sustainable bio-energy in the renewable energy 2017 package. Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella argued that development of renewable energy and preservation of ecosystems and biodiversity should be two sides of the same coin. For this reason, the legislative package on renewables, which the Commission will present in 2017, will include a chapter on the sustainable use of bio-energy. The conservation model of Natura 2000 provides a framework for the sustainable development of renewable energy through appropriate assessment and identification of necessary attenuation measures. These procedures and measures have already been incorporated into some EU guidelines. In addition to those on wind power, the Commission will present guidelines on energy transmission infrastructure and on hydro-electric power. (Aminata Niang)