| Author (Person) | Carstens, Karen |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.9, No.28, 24.7.03, p2 |
| Publication Date | 24/07/2003 |
| Content Type | News |
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Date:24/07/03 By Karen Carstens GREEN groups have slammed a proposal put forward by the European Commission yesterday (23 July), to allow businesses to use credits obtained from a range of projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions outside the EU to meet their own targets under the Kyoto Protocol. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said it was concerned that even before the ink is dry, this new directive will remove any incentive for clean energy innovation and technology- development within Europe. But EU environment chief Margot Wallström sang a different tune on Tuesday (22 July), when member states gave their final stamp of approval to an EU emissions-trading directive. "We are now world leaders in applying emissions trading," she said. While WWF welcomed the law, it took issue with yesterday's additional proposal on market-based flexible mechanisms, as the Kyoto jargon goes. These allow industrialized countries to meet their targets through trading emission allowances between themselves and gaining credits for emission-curbing projects abroad. They include Joint Implementation and the Clean Development Mechanism. The former refers to projects in countries that also have emission targets, the latter to projects in developing countries with no targets. The idea is to make reductions where costs are lowest, at least in the initial phase of combating climate change. But WWF said that if these project credits are to be included at all, they should be restricted to environmentally sound ventures. "Targets for emissions trading have not been set, yet the Commission has [produced] a triple-detriment to climate effect, questionable projects, wrong incentives," said WWF's Mark Kenber. "The almost unrestricted access to project credits is effectively a shoddy accounting trick which would do little or nothing to reduce global carbon pollution," he added. While WWF welcomed a proposal to exclude credits from forestry projects, it warned that projects involving nuclear power should also be explicitly excluded. The EU is committed to reaching its own Kyoto targets of reducing the emission of CO2 and five other gases between 2008-2012 to 8% of 1990 levels. The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) has criticised plans from the European Commission to allow businesses to use credits gained from projects outside the EU to meet the Kyoto Protocol targets. |
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| Subject Categories | Environment |
