7th Strategic Dialogue of the CMP - Valeria Forlin, European Commission
European policies
2. European strategies to stop the
climate change
All European laws
regarding the
environment have 4 main
purposes:
- The strategy called
emission trading
- The protection of
biodiversity
- The preservation of
health of all populations
- The sustainable
development
3. Emissions trading
• the emissions trading system rewards companies that reduce their
CO2 emissions and penalises those that exceed limits.
• Introduced in 2005, the scheme takes in about 12,000 factories and
plants responsible for about half the EU’s emissions of CO2
• EU governments set limits on the amount of carbon dioxide emitted
by energy-intensive industries like power generation and steel and
cement makers. If these businesses want to emit more CO2 than
their quota, they have to buy spare permits from more efficient
companies
• In the future, more industries will be subject to quotas, including
airlines and petrochemical companies
4. Biodiversity
• The EU has committed to
stopping the decline of
endangered species and
habitats in the EU by
2010
• EU wants to expand
Natura 2000, a set of
areas where plant and
animal species and their
habitats must be
protected
• It already includes more
than 26,000 sites across
the EU.
5. Enviroment and health
• Noise, swimming water, rare species and emergency
response –these are just some of the areas covered
under the extensive body of environmental legislation
that the EU has established
• Under the laws, EU countries are required to monitor
many different pollutants and to take action if levels
exceed safe limits.
• For example,the EU moved in 2008 to set binding
limits on emissions of fine particles known as
PM2.5,microscopic particles that can cause
respiratory diseases.
6. Sustinable development
• Sustainable development has long
been one of the overarching
objectives of EU policy
• EU leaders launched the first EU
sustainable development strategy
in 2001 and updated it in 2006 to
take account of new challenges.
• the revised plan stresses the
importance of education, research
and public funding to achieve
sustainable production
• Now the focus is on putting policy
into practice. In 2009, the
commission proposed a package
of measures to promote eco-
friendly products, including greater
use of energy efficiency labels like
those found on wash machines.
7. The greenhouse effect
• The greenhouse effect is absolutely vital to allowing life, as we know
it to survive on earth. Without the greenhouse effect, Earth would be
a cold planet, with a mean surface temperature well below freezing
• If there weren’t the atmosphere the average temperature would be
33°C degrees lower than the one on the Earth nowadays
8. The Global Warming
• The global warming is an
abnormal change of world
climate
• This phenomenon has begun
about thirty years ago and
continues still now
• Since the scientists have been
recording data about world
average temperature in the
middle of XX century, ten of the
eleven hottest years are after
1980.
• Global warming is mainly caused
by human activities
9. Consequences on Earth
• Glaciers in Antarctica,
Arctic and on
mountains all over the
world have been
melting because of the
increase of temperature
on Earth
• The sea level has rised
of more than 25 cm in
only a century
• Atmospheric
phenomena have
become more and
more violent
10. EU CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY
• Europe decided to reduce greenhouse gas emission:
1. by 2013 to 2019, a Member State may carry forward from the
following year a quantity of up to 5 % of its annual emission
allocation. The unused part of the quota may be carried over to
subsequent years. It is also possible to transfer a part of this
allocation to other Member States;
• Forests are under threat from deforestation:
1. The action proposed by the European Union (EU) aims to
halt global forest cover loss by 2030 at the latest and to
reduce tropical deforestation by at least 50 % by 2020
compared to current levels;
• Measure for energy efficiency in the building sector:
1. The European Commission proposes that the 1000 m2
threshold for existing buildings when they undergo major
renovation is eliminated and that the requirements concerning
energy performance be applied to a larger number of buildings;
11. • Making renewable energy a genuine and affordable
alternative:
1. A total of 20% of European energy consumption to be met
from renewable sources by 2020: this is the target the EU
set itself in 2007. To achieve this objective the EU has
adopted measures aimed at promoting renewable energy
sources and developing the markets in the biomass and
biofuel sectors, among others;
• Reconciling road and air transport with the
environment:
1. The EU has adopted a wide range of measures to reduce
the impact of road and air transport, including
measures reducing levels of polluting emissions, traffic
management measures and tax measures. Promoting
transport by rail and waterways and intermodality;
12. • The EU has set up a raft of direct and
indirect financial assistance
packages, particularly to support
innovative projects and technological
development. The actions proposed
fall into three main areas according to
their effect:
1. getting environmental
technologies from
research laboratories to
markets;
2. improving market
conditions to promote
the adoption of
environmental
technologies;
3. promoting
environmental
technologies at global
level.
13. As regarding climate change, EU
wants to achieve the following
objectives: consuming less-
polluting energy more
efficiently, creating cleaner and
more balanced transport options,
making companies more
environmentally responsible
without compromising their
competitiveness, developing
environmentally friendly land-
use planning and agriculture and
creating conditions conducive to
research and innovation.
Climate Changes
14. Strategies
• extension of action against climate change to
all the polluting countries (with common but
differentiated responsibilities) and sectors
involved (all modes of transport,
deforestation etc.);
• enhanced innovation, which includes the
application of existing technologies and the
development of new technologies.
• use and development of market-based
instruments (such as the emissions trading
system introduced by the EU);
• realization of preventive and remedial efforts
to adapt to climate change based on the most
affected regions and economic sectors.
15. These objectives could be reached in these ways:
• meet the target of the 8% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
(compared with 1990 levels) agreed in the Kyoto Protocol. The
measures concerned include measures to promote climate-friendly
technologies, such as the ecotechnologies;
• increased public awareness to encourage people to change their
mind and behaviour, through the launching of an EU-wide
awareness campaign;
• more and better focussed research to further improve knowledge
on climate change and its global and regional impact and to develop
climate change mitigation strategies (in particular in the energy
and transport sectors, but also in agriculture and industry);
• draw up climate-friendly development policies and strengthen the
adaptive capacity of the most vulnerable countries. The EU should
therefore maintain its role of a driving force in international
negotiations in this area;
• determine new measures to be taken in synergy with the Lisbon
strategy, particularly in relation to energy efficiency, renewable
energy, the transport sector and carbon capture and storage.
16. All the countries must follow these
european laws but the most
important role is acted by all the
EU citizens!
Work made by:
Alberto,Andrea,Matteo,
Matteo,Anna,Agata