On target, off track: Europe’s failure to protect the climate by Stephen Tindale
Europe likes to see itself as a leader in attempts to control climate change. But it is not. The EU’s own greenhouse gas emissions are falling. However, that is due to de-industrialisation and the fact that so many of the goods Europeans consume are now manufactured in China or India. The amount of carbon emissions caused by Europe, taking account of the pollution attributable to such goods, is rising. November’s UN climate summit in Warsaw made no significant progress. The key point of disagreement was money. Developing countries, led by Brazil, China and India, argued that rich countries should help poorer countries to protect themselves against extreme weather – pointing out that rich countries became wealthy by burning fossil fuels and are responsible for most historic emissions. But developed countries, including EU states, refused to pay for past pollution. They argued that current emissions are more significant than past ones. This is unscientific – because carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for up to two centuries – and irresponsible. The Warsaw summit agreed to introduce new targets by 2015, to come into force in 2020. The annual climate conferences now move to Peru and then France. In January the European Commission will propose an EU target for greenhouse gas reductions by 2030. Wellcrafted targets can play a useful role in shaping policy discussions. But good policy can be adopted even without targets. Brussels’s policy
focus should be on reducing pollution while at the same time strengthening the economy. The top priority should be to minimise coal use. EU regulations are forcing the closure of some old coal power plants, but there is no ban on building new ones. New coal stations are more efficient than old ones, and are required to have technology to cut emissions of gases that cause acid rain. But they do not have to include carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities. Without CCS, coal produces about twice as much carbon dioxide per unit of electricity as gas does, and 50 times as much as nuclear or wind. Energy companies are proposing 42 new coal power stations in nine member-states. Thirteen are in Poland and ten in Germany. In other countries, including France, Spain and the UK, no new coal power plants are proposed, but the amount of coal burnt in existing plants is increasing. Poland is widely blamed for blocking EU attempts to lower emissions of green house gases. The country generates almost 90 per cent of its electricity from coal. Yet Poland is