Paris, Berlin signal pause in EU climate efforts

BusinessEurope, the European employers’ organisation and leading business lobby group, said it opposed the Commission’s proposed move to -30%.

In a statement, it said the Copenhagen conference did not provide a level playing field for European businesses, which it said suffer the burden of the EU’s unilateral commitments on climate change. EU countries, it added, "should ensure that the European Union does not further raise its 2020 targets at this point in time given the current lack of concrete commitments from our economic partners."

Rather than discuss "numerical emissions reductions targets," the EU should better focus on "intensifying [low-carbon] technology development and deployment," it said.

Eurelectric, the association representing Europe’s largest power companies such as EDF, E.ON and Enel, said it was also against the move to -30%. The trade group argued that adopting such a target would lead to "short term fuel switching that will lock-in future carbon emissions" because the required large-scale technologies will not be available.

As a consequence, it said that a "targets around 2025-2030 [would] fit far more sensibly within our planning timeframe."

WWF, the global conservation group, says the Commission's communication shows that the estimated cost of reducing CO2 emissions beyond the existing 20% by 2020 has fallen due to the economic recession (EurActiv 03/05/10).

Moreover, it cited Commission reports which said that raising the EU’s climate target to -30% would save Europe some €40 billion in oil and gas imports in 2020.

"WWF recognises that concerns for the economy and financial stability are uppermost in policymakers minds at the moment. But our view is that failing to grasp money-saving opportunities like reducing our dependence on fossil fuels is short-term thinking that will simply lead to more problems," said Jason Anderson, head of EU climate and energy policy at WWF.

Greenpeace, an environmental NGO, denounced what it described as "industry scaremongering" on climate change and the risk of industry delocalisation. It said independent economic research had found "no empirical evidence that more ambitious climate policies will result in mass relocation of industries outside of the EU".

In fact, it said, "competition for European industries mainly comes from within the EU and not from producers outside Europe."

"Greenpeace calls on businesses in the EU to speak out in favour of innovation and green growth and to support an unconditional 30% emission cut by 2020, compared to 1990 levels. This should be a first step towards a 40% emission target for all developed countries, consistent with keeping global temperature increase well below two degrees Celsius and avoiding the catastrophic effects of climate change."