[FOCUS] Europe is turning green, but there may be costs
RENATA GOLDIROVA
19.05.2008 @ 14:40 CET
EUOBSERVER / FOCUS - In March 2007, the European Union put flesh on its claim to be a world leader in fighting climate change by committing itself to boosting green energy, curbing air pollution and cutting energy bills, but a year later it is still struggling with the implications of these ambitious goals.
EU leaders have legally bound the entire 27-nation bloc to deliver on three main targets by 2020 (Photo: Tom Jensen/norden.org)
European leaders put a "greener Europe" high on their political agenda in the face of two main challenges: potentially catastrophic changes in world temperatures and sharply rising dependence on external energy sources, mainly from Russia.
The European Commission has predicted that a 5 degree Celsius rise by the beginning of the next century could see 40,000 deaths a year in Europe resulting from floods and hurricanes as well as severe drought in Mediterranean states.
Meanwhile, the union's energy import dependence is on course to jump from 50 percent of total energy consumption today to 65 percent in 2030.
In response, EU leaders legally bound the entire 27-nation bloc to deliver on three main targets by the end of the next decade - something dubbed in Brussels as 20/20/20.
Between now and 2020, member states must slash the EU's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 20 percent compared to 1990 levels. They should cut down on energy waste, saving 20 percent of energy and, finally, boost the share of renewable sources in overall energy consumption by 20 percent. On top of this, the share of biofuels in transport should be increased to 10 percent.
But to a great extent, the EU has ventured into unknown territory, as the proposed changes are likely to amount to a new industrial revolution. Technology research and innovation will be key to whether it succeeds, with Brussels injecting approximately €1 billion into the areas for each year between 2007 and 2013.
Disputed biofuels
In January this year, the EU's executive translated the political goals into a far-reaching package of green legislation, including how exactly to get from the current 8.5 percent to a 20 percent share of renewables in EU energy consumption by 2020.
Under the draft law - currently being debated in national capitals - all countries are faced with specific individual targets. These mirror their geographic and economic potential to produce energy from solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower or biomass sources.
In addition, countries will be allowed to buy one another's renewable energy if one country does not have enough potential to meet its individual target or if it finds it too costly to produce a certain type of energy within its own territory.
The biggest controversy centres around biofuels, which have rapidly gone from climate saviour to climate villain. Environmental groups have flagged up that some biofuels can actually release more greenhouse gases than fossil fuels.
Development organisations and international institutions, including the World Bank and the UN World Food Programme, also argue that the competition between food and fuel is one of the major causes of the recent sharp rise in world food prices that has resulted in riots in parts of the developing world.
What about other polluters?
The key to reducing CO2 emissions in the EU by 20 percent by 2020 is an overhaul of the emission trading scheme, a cap and trade system set up in 2005.
Under the new-look system, EU member states will no longer be able to grant pollution permits to their companies. Instead, industry will be obliged to buy them by auction.
But energy intensive industries in the EU have been up in arms since January when Brussels proposed the reform, arguing that their competitiveness will be affected as they will be obliged to adhere to more exacting standards than their rivals from third countries.
They have threatened relocation of production to countries outside the EU - something that could cause social problems at home and a global rise in greenhouse gas emissions.
Much now depends on the outcome of the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen in December 2009, where governments will try to strike a new climate change deal for after 2012, when the current Kyoto set-up runs out.