Berlin Presses Brussels
January 17, 2008
Germany is holding firm on its ambitious promise to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2020, the country's environment minister said Thursday, Jan. 17, but warned that other industrial nations and the European Union were lagging behind in their commitment to targets set at the International Climate Conference in Bali last year.
Sigmar Gabriel issued a declaration on behalf of the German government that reaffirmed Germany's commitment to slashing its CO2 output in line with the Bali discussions and demanded that others did the same.
Gabriel told the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament, that "the world community has given the green light for a new climate agreement" which could be agreed upon by 2012, the target set by those attending the Bali conference. However, he added, promises made by the attending officials, particularly from the EU, need to be reaffirmed and acted upon.
Gabriel reasserts Germany's climate promise
"Germany stands firm in its national climate protection policy of reducing greenhouse gases by 40 percent," Gabriel said. The European Union needed to show that it was firm on its own target of 30 percent reduction, he said, adding that he doubted the EU's ability to turn its promise into reality.
The EU promised in Bali to lower its collective greenhouse gas output to at least 20 percent below that recorded in 1990, and set its highest target at 30 percent.
The EU committee on climate change announced that it would issue a report next week detailing its plans for meeting its emissions cuts. The draft version of the controversial climate package was revealed last week to some concern from a number of member states. It includes measures to cut CO2 levels "by at least 20 percent" and will demand stronger action from richer states.
Criticism of EU plan riles Barroso
Several nations have complained about the measures and targets included in the draft text, which still requires approval by the European Parliament and member states.
The criticism forced European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso onto the defensive. "Do not expect us to compromise on European interests," he told members of the European Parliament last week. "Both our international credibility and credibility before European Union citizens depend on fulfillment of the targets.
"Transforming to a low carbon community is not an easy task, but this is the moment to be serious and clear with our commitment," Barroso added. "It is essential to meet the three central challenges that the European Union faces in energy: competitiveness, sustainability and security of supply.
"The commission is well aware of these realities, as our proposals will show," he said.