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23 January, 2008
Photo:EFE BRUSSELS (AFP). – The European Commission today revealed an ambitious plan of fight against the climatic change to reduce in a 20% its discharges of greenhouse effect gasses in 2020. The curiosity is that it will cost three Euros per week to each European and the industry will have to pay to have the right to contaminate. As it was expected, the plan developed in Brussels demands an important effort of the industries of the Old Continent and will be object of hard negotiations with the national governments of the 27 members of the European Union (the EU), worried about the competitiveness of their economies. In a presentation before the Europarliament, the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, said that it is the “most complete package of measures of the world” to fight against the overheating of the planet, with a cost of “three Euros per week per person” from now until 2020. Decided to become world-wide leader in the fight against the global heating, in March of 2007 the EU committed itself to reduce in a 20% the carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) in 2020 regarding the 1990 levels. EU also had decided to lift to 20% the percentage of renewable energies (Aeolian, solar, biomass, geothermal) in the total consumption of the block in 2020, against the current 8.5%, and to increase to 10% the use of biofuels in transport sector for the same year. The national governments questioned the calculation and the form of distribution, whereas the industrialists raised the ghost of the power plant transfers with the objective, partly successful, to attenuate the proposals of Brussels in this first stage.  Since the plan must be approved by the Europarliament and all the Member States, a second negotiations phase is expected that would have to end in an agreement towards the end of 2008, according to the commission. The set of Brussels proposals focuses in a considerable effort of the heavy industry, responsible for half of the greenhouse effect gas discharges of the EU, that from 2013 on will have to pay to contaminate. “The electricity sector, responsible of most of the emissions of the European Union, will have to pay in a complete way from the beginning of the new regime in 2013 ?, the plan indicates. “Other industrial sectors, like aviation will have to do the same, in a gradual way”, adds Brussels, that until now granted free emissions quotas of CO2. As far as the other half of the polluting emissions of the EU, they come from transports, agriculture and residues, that will have to be reduced in a 10% for 2020. Meanwhile, Durao Barroso indicated that the cost of the measures would have to be compensated by the gas and petroleum imports of savings in the EU, of 50,000 million annual Euros. Regarding the sale of contaminate permissions, these would have to generate other 50,000 million Euros, amount that would go to the coffers of the members of the EU and would serve to finance the necessary technical innovations for the reduction of emissions. Brussels expects much from the climatic change negotiations initiated in Bali in December of 2007 and bets on an international agreement in 2009 to limit the impact, under the threat to impose taxes to the imports of the countries that do not respect their environmental norms. Source: La Nación Deje un comentario |
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