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Jean Lambert London's Green MEP

Jean backs MEPs’ call for tougher action on climate change

16/11/2012 The European Parliament’s Environment Committee has called for the EU to step up its action on global warming ahead of the upcoming UN climate summit in Doha.

In a resolution adopted on last week, the committee called for deeper reductions in the EU’s emissions, recognising that the current target of a 20% cut by 2020 is outdated and inadequate.

The resolution also highlighted the benefits of aiming for a more ambitious 30% target, stating that “it is in the EU’s own interest to aim for a climate protection target of 30% by 2020, thus creating sustainable growth, additional jobs and decreasing the dependency on energy imports.”

Unfortunately little progress has been made on climate finance to support mitigation and adaptation projects in developing countries. A Green Climate Fund of $100bn per year was agreed at the Copenhagen summit in 2009, however the fund is facing a severe shortage when the fast-start finance period ends in 2012. This morning’s resolution recognised the urgency of filling this funding gap, calling for concrete commitments on financing for the period 2013-2020.

A further issue in the run-up to the summit which threatens to undermine the EU’s credibility as a leader on climate change is the excess of allowances, or Assigned Amount Units (AAUs), accumulated by the Eastern Europe Member States. Allowing these allowances to be carried over to the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, which begins in 2013, could threaten its efficacy in reducing emissions.