France, UK, Germany issue joint call for 30% CO2 cuts
Ministers from the UK, France and Germany have issued a joint call for the EU to raise its emission reduction target to 30% by 2020.
The EU's current target to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20% by 2020 will not be enough to keep Europe in the race for clean technologies, according to UK Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Huhne, German Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen and French Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo.
The ministers of these three Member States united for the first time to make the case for a unilateral move to a 30% target.
"If we stick to a 20% cut, Europe is likely to lose the race to compete in the low-carbon world to countries such as China, Japan or the US, all of which are looking to create a more attractive environment for low-carbon investment," the Ministers wrote in the Financial Times. They also argued that higher ambition would create a "real incentive for innovation and action in the international context".
The statement is a considerable change to Germany's position, which has traditionally backed the EU's official position that a move to 30% should only take place if other industrialised countries make similar commitments in UN negotiations over a new climate treaty.
In May 2010, a European Commission communication calculated that due to the global recession, a 30% reduction would now cost only €11 billion more than what national capitals signed up to two years ago when they set the 20% target.
The backing of the three ministers' is likely to re-open the debate about a unilateral move when the EU discusses in autumn its strategy for the Cancun (Mexico) climate talks taking place at the end of the year.
For further information:
http://www.ft.com
