Fight against climate change hampered by internal rows

Date: 09/03/2000

By Gareth Harding

THE European Commission unveiled its strategy for cutting rising emissions of greenhouse gases this week amid accusations that two of the major planks of its climate-change programme lie in tatters and concern that other crucial measures to curb global warming remain blocked by EU governments.

Proposals aimed at improving energy efficiency and boosting the use of renewable energy sources have been held up in the Commission for more than a year and watered down in recent drafts.

The Commission also argues in the policy paper published this week that progress towards meeting the Union's climate-change goals would have been "far more pronounced" if key measures, such as the proposed EU-wide energy tax, had not been blocked by governments and Union funds to promote renewables and energy saving had not been slashed.

Commission officials admit that one of the major elements of their strategy for combating climate change - an action plan to improve energy efficiency originally due to be adopted last spring - remains "on ice" because of arguments between the institution's environment and energy departments.

The latest draft calls for a 1.6% annual improvement in energy efficiency, but Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström's officials describe this target as unambitious and green groups have attacked the proposal as a "lame-duck document".

Robert Bradley of Climate Network Europe said that without legally-binding targets, the action plan would be "meaningless" - but member states are loathe to sign up to concrete goals which they have failed to meet in the past.

Environmental campaigners have also voiced concern that proposals aimed at boosting the use of renewable energy due to be unveiled by Energy Commissioner Loyola de Palacio next month will have little impact because she too will shy away from calling for binding national targets.

Officials admit that "not very much has happened" at Union level since the EU signed up to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 8% by 2012 at the Kyoto climate-change conference in 1997. They warn that if this inaction continues, emissions will in fact rise by 6-8% instead.

In an effort to inject new momentum into the process, Wallström has drawn up a list of more than 30 measures which member states could take together. These include reducing greenhouse-gas emissions from planes, ending state subsidies for polluting activities, setting energy efficiency standards for electrical equipment and cutting methane emissions.

The Commission's strategy also relies heavily on allowing companies to buy and sell the right to pollute, despite the EU's traditional suspicion of emissions trading. A separate Green Paper adopted by the Union executive this week sets out basic rules to govern an internal EU trading system and is aimed at ensuring that national schemes do not conflict with single market laws and any international agreement which might be struck later this year.

The European Commission has unveiled its strategy for cutting rising emissions of greenhouse gases amid accusations that two of the major planks of its climate-change programme lie in tatters and concern that other crucial measures to curb global warming remain blocked by EU governments. Proposals aimed at improving energy efficiency and boosting the use of renewable energy sources have been held up in the Commission for more than a year and watered down in recent drafts.