MBR_ISSUE 37_Lowres

EU FEATURE: CLEAN ENERGY FINANANCING
Malta Business Review
MBR Editor Martin Vella during Brussels conference
Europrean Parliament Assembly
Thanks to these policies, Europe is the global
leader in the areas of energy saving, clean
energy, efficient resource use and cutting
emissions, and it has been able to create
hundreds of thousands of new jobs.
The figures speak for themselves. Since
2007, the sector has grown by 70%, creating
employment for 1.2 million people and
generating an annual turnover of EUR 138
billion. Some 17% of the energy that we
produce in the European Union now comes
from renewable sources. We are changing a
key economic paradigm: growth no longer
means higher energy consumption. Between
2005 and 2015, the European economy grew
by 10%, while energy consumption fell by
11%. We are seeing a radical transformation
of the methods we use to manufacture goods
and generate wealth. This is a real digital
and energy revolution, which is profoundly
altering the economy, the world of work and
our lifestyles. It is a process that the European
Union must continue to steer, stepping up its
role as a political, economic and technological
leader and grasping the new opportunities
created. The reluctance on the part of other
global players – starting with the Trump
Administration – to take decisive steps to tackle
what today is the greatest threat to our planet
should give us a further incentive to continue
on our chosen path. We have demonstrated
that we intend to do so by displaying unity and
determination in signing the Paris Agreement
and by continuing to move forward shoulder to
shoulder to implement it, including at COP 23,
which opened yesterday in Bonn.
I am convinced that the foot-dragging by the
US Administration will not prevent cooperation
– including technological and industrial
cooperation – between ourselves and many
cities and states in the USA. For that reason, I
should particularly like to thank the Governor
of California, Jerry Brown, for joining us today.
I see this as symbolic of a global alliance
which looks beyond short-term choices and
mistakes. Like Europe, California is a role
model. Emissions have been reduced by 36%
since 1990, and more than 500 000 jobs have
been created in the renewables sector. That
state alone is the source of 15% of all the clean
energy produced in the United States. You only
have to read the news wherever you are in
the world to appreciate the seriousness of the
situation: devastating hurricanes, huge fires,
even in autumn, drought and desertification,
the spread of epidemics, increasingly frequent
floods and rising sea levels.
All this not only affects thousands of people
and is a human tragedy for those who
lose everything they have: the economic
damage is also colossal. These disasters cost
many dozens of times more than the most
ambitious measures needed to slow down
global warming. And this is to say nothing
of the concern felt by our societies and the
tensions being generated in Europe by the
rising numbers of migrants from Africa, a
good many of whom have been compelled
to move because of the loss of thousands of
hectares of farmland and water shortages.
Every euro invested in reducing emissions
yields a substantial return, both as a driver
of the economy and by mitigating potential
environmental disasters. For that reason we
should encourage greater public and private
investment, of the order of hundreds of billions
of euros per year, in energy efficiency and
clean energy sources. It has been estimated
that between 2021 and 2030 some EUR 177
billion per annum in additional investment
will be needed to complete the transition
to a low-emission economy. We need to
provide industries and operators with a stable
regulatory framework which guarantees legal
certainty for investments which yield results
only in the long term.
We must therefore adopt as soon as possible
the ‘Clean Energy for all Europeans’ package,
whose measures, once fully implemented, will
create 900 000 new jobs in the energy sector.
The European Fund for Strategic Investments
(EFSI) has financed energy projects costing
some EUR 10 billion. Thanks to the new
agreement on EFSI 2 which has just been
reached between Parliament, the Council and
the Commission, the amount of funding will
be doubled. We must also make more and
better use of the EU’s regional funds. In the
period 2014-2020, more than EUR 21 billion
has been set aside for investment in the energy
efficiency of buildings and for investment by
businesses, in particular SMEs, in renewables.
This is not enough. As from the next budget, we
must increase this funding, which is particularly
effective in attracting new investment and
creating jobs. It is enough to realise, for
example, that refurbishing our buildings, which
account for 40% of energy consumption, could
mobilise hundreds of billions in investment.
This investment would pay for itself within
a few years simply by reducing energy bills,
galvanising the building industry and creating
new jobs. Joint efforts are needed, with EU
budget funds being spent in synergy with loans
from the European Investment Bank, savings
and loan banks and other national sources of
funding, so as to maximise private investment.
If we want to create a genuine European
market, we cannot allow our energy systems
to remain isolated.
Parliament has called for electricity
interconnections to be increased to 10% in all
Member States by 2020. In order to achieve
this, we must make funding available quickly
for projects of common interest in the area of
electricity infrastructure, with that funding also
to be extended beyond 2020.
CONCLUSIONS
The challenge presented by climate change
and the energy revolution also represents
an opportunity for growth and employment,
which Europe should seize with both hands.
In order to consolidate our leadership in
innovative technologies, we must continue to
work together on several fronts: on the one
hand, by giving operators clear targets and a
framework of predictable rules; on the other
hand, by exploiting all available synergies among
public resources so as to maximise private
investment. The European Risk Management
Platform for the funding of energy efficiency
projects is a good model, which we should
continue to pursue. The information on more
than 7 000 projects provides a major stimulus
to investment in Europe. At the same time, we
must complete the negotiations on the ETS
package and the Circular Economy package,
in order to create a clear legal framework for
investors. The energy transition calls for the
closest possible international cooperation.
European businesses are ready to do their bit
in the fight against climate change. But they
ask to be allowed to compete on equal terms
on the world market. Punitive solutions that go
beyond what is technically and economically
feasible for European industry would be
counterproductive. Similarly, there is a risk that
asymmetrical rules on emissions or energy
efficiency may cause industrial production to
be relocated from the most virtuous countries
to those where environmental regulation is
laxer. There is a danger that this will undermine
the fight against global warming. European
policy-makers have a duty to give the people
of Europe the right answers to questions
concerning environmental sustainability and
employment. For that purpose, an innovative
and responsible industry is needed, which will
continue to invest in Europe. MBR
Credit: EP Valletta, Malta; Carlo Corazza,
Spokesperson of the President, EP.
www.maltabusinessreview.net
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