Source

Type

Peer Review

Audience

Pages

Notes

WWF briefing on the EU Emissions Trading Scheme

Introduction:

To prevent catastrophic climate change we must keep the global average temperature rise as far below 2 degrees centigrade as possible. To have a high chance of doing so the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment report suggests that industrialized countries should take on greenhouse gas reduction targets of between 25% and 40% below 1990 levels by 20201. Indeed, this was the range endorsed by all EU Member States at the international climate conference in Bali at the end of 2007. As a consequence of the 2 degree threshold, the IPCC also showed that global emissions need to come down to about zero prior to the end of the century. This means that industrialized countries including the EU need to achieve this target by around 2050.

The 20% greenhouse gas emission reduction target is too low: the European Commission’s proposed target of a mere 20% cut in EU greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 is clearly not aligned with climate change science as well as the EU’s international commitments.

Furthermore, the current proposal allows for a large proportion of this target to be met by the purchase of emission reduction credits from outside the EU. This weakens an already insufficient target because at best these credits only offset (or cancel out) increases in EU emissions, they do not actually result in a net reduction in global emissions. Therefore, the 20% GHG target undermines the EU’s leadership role in tackling climate change at a critical time in the international negotiations. It fails to take into account the EU’s huge historical contribution to climate change and our moral obligation to lead the way in cutting our own emissions first.

The 20% target will also fail to deliver the substantial financial support to developing countries that is required to assist them in decarbonising their economies and in adapting to the impacts of climate change. A robust international agreement in Copenhagen in 2009 will require developed countries, including the EU, to increase their financial and technological contributions to assist developing countries address climate change.