Brussels, 24/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 21 September, the European Parliament's environment committee called in Brussels for a globally binding and ambitious environment deal with robust financial tools.
Adopting an own initiative report by Gilles Pargneaux (S&D France) by 55 votes to 5 with 8 abstentions, the committee hoped the Parliament's delegation to the COP 21 in Paris (30 November -11 December) would push the EU to aim at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by 2030, along with a 40% energy efficiency target and a binding 30% target for renewable energy. This goes further than the EU's negotiating mandate drawn up by the Environment Council (see EUROPE 11393 and 11392). “In this fight, Europe must be the engine and the model”, said the rapporteur. The Paris Universal Agreement should aim for the most cost-efficient phasing-out of global carbon emissions by 2050 or shortly afterwards in order to keep global warming at below 2°C. While that may seem too ambitious, they say work should begin in 2016 on designing extra emissions reduction measures.
The MEPs call for “a general reinvigoration of the EU's climate policy”, to enable the EU to meet its pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80-95% by 2050 compared with 1990 levels. The committee recommends that the parties to the COP21 conference support five-year commitment periods in order to avoid “locking into low levels of ambition”.
The MEPs want climate finance to be included in any agreement reached in Paris in order to reflect adjustments in economic and environmental realities. They urge the EU and its member states to agree on a roadmap on enhancing finance to ensure a fair sharing of the annual USD 100 billion to be spent by 2020.
Pargneaux said that it was by drawing up a roadmap for providing the Green Fund with USD 100 billion a year, proposing a tax on financial transactions, part of the proceeds of which should be used on tackling climate change, and deciding on a high price for carbon to make pollution less profitable is how an agreement worthy of the name can be won in Paris in December.
The environment committee called on all parties to the COP 21 to work within the International Civil Aviation Organisation and the International Maritime Organisation to get emissions reductions measures before the end of 2016. At its plenary on 14 October, the European Parliament will give its opinion of the draft negotiating mandate submitted to it by the environment committee. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)