Memorandum to Czech Presidency and Ten Test - EEB

EEB Memorandum to the Czech EU Presidency1. EUROPEAN COUNCIL1.1. Work Towards Low-Carbon Europe And GlobeIt is clear that the Energy/Climate package that was agreed in December 2008will not be sufficient to achieve a real shift towards a low-carbon EU economy,nor will it by itself give the world sufficient confidence that the EU will do its fairshare in tackling climate change globally. The package is too weak oninternalising the climate impact of fossil fuel use in the prices of goods andservices, allows for too much evasion of real reduction needs in the EU throughjoint-implementation and the clean development mechanism, lacks a dedicatedportion of auctioning revenues allocated for sponsoring mitigation and adaptationin developing countries and the biofuels legislation will create major social andenvironmental problems.In Bali a year ago it was already agreed that industrialised countries, in order tolimit climate change to 2° compared with pre-industrial times, need to reduceCO2 emissions by 25%-40% in 2020 compared to 1990, which is far above theEU commitment, which because of vast outsourcing opportunities may lead toless than 15% reduction in real terms. Since Bali scientific evidence showing thatthe planet’s ecosystems are less resilient than we had hoped and that anatmospheric concentration of 450 parts per million (ppm) CO2 might already betoo high for staying within the 2° limit has been growing. Estimates now, are thata 400 (Swedish Scientific Council, and others) or even 350 ppm (James Hansen,NASA and others) limit is necessary, which means that in fact the EU should tryto achieve a 40% reduction by 2020!At the same time we have a financial and economic crisis that leads to demandsfor public spending in order to prevent a downward spiral, increasedunemployment etc. It is now of essential importance for the future of the planetthat investment plans orient towards low-carbon and resource efficienteconomies.EEB therefore calls upon the Czech Presidency to seek Spring Councilagreements to:- Consider new climate science showing that the 2° C limit can only be metwith 350-400 ppm CO 2 e (carbon dioxide equivalent) maximumatmospheric concentrations and start discussions on stricter climatechange objectives, including for the EU accelerated emission reductions of40% from 1990 to 2020.- Adapt the Lisbon Strategy and the European Economic Recovery Plan tofocus on energy and resource efficiency and renewables and refrain from9