European energy agreement reached
Posted by DavidM in Green Politics | 9 March 2007
The European leadership is increasingly leading the world in reducing emissions and tackling climate change.
Tony Blair has been pushing for environmental reform for some time, though some question his true commitment given the UK government's transport policies.
Now Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor and previously their environment minister, has successfully led negotiations to set overall renewable energy targets for the expanded European Union.
The highlights of this agreement are;
- A cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 20% from 1990 levels by 2020
- Bio-fuels to be ay least 10% of transport fuels by 2020
- Increased use of solar, wind and hydroelectric power
However, while the headline is great and it represents a step forward, there are still big barriers to achieving this.
First, the agreement compromises on the use of nuclear energy, as a concession to France, merely making noises about it needing to be secure.
Second, the agreement sets the overall European target. The next step is to agree country by country targets which is where the hard negotiation kicks in.
And finally, while this agreement gives Europe weight at the G8 summit, getting the US, Australia, China and India to follow suit won't be easy. And that's vital if we are to make a real difference to climate change.
