Commenting on the EU climate and energy package announced today, Greenpeace UK Executive Director John Sauven said:
"After months of bickering and in-fighting the European commission has produced a set of proposals that will satisfy almost no-one. They will do little to tackle climate change and in their current form give little certainty to Europe's once thriving but now fragile clean tech sector. They would also leave European consumers hopelessly exposed to rising fossil fuel prices, which is what drove up energy bills in the first place.
"The commission has set out its broken stall – it's now up to Europe's elected leaders to fix it. They must agree to cut greenhouse gases by at least 55% by 2030 if they wish to play a meaningful role in a new global climate deal and help reduce the devastating impacts of extreme weather. They must also put in place a renewables policy that will give genuine confidence to those wishing to invest in Europe. Anything less will see Europe fall further and further behind the US and China in the global race for clean energy markets.
"This toothless policy, which involves no legal obligation on member states, has the fingerprints of a UK government in hock to the Big Six energy giants written all over it. David Cameron now has a clear choice ahead of him. He can go to Brussels and fight for British interests – which means supporting a genuinely binding renewables target that works for our world-class clean energy sector – or he can sacrifice the stability of the climate and the future of British industries in an attempt to buy off his party's anti-green clique.
"Building a UK's clean energy system will also be cheaper for consumers if we do it with our European partners. Grid interconnections, expanded markets and economies of scale will all help drive down the costs of renewable energy – whilst isolating our energy system from that of our nearest neighbours will pile more costs on UK tax-payers and bill payers"
ENDS
Five reasons why a genuinely binding renewables target makes sense
1. UK leadership: Thanks to its position as a world leader in the field of offshore wind, wave and tidal technologies – something David Cameron himself likes to boast about – the UK would only benefit from a binding target that will increase supply chain certainty across the EU, sharpening market appetite for clean energy tech across the continent. This means more opportunities to export the cutting-edge technological know-how developed in Britain over the last few years, reaping the rewards of our ambitious investment.
2. Energy security: A binding target would encourage European interconnection and regional co-operation. A more interconnected EU grid would reduce the cost of keeping the lights on because of more effective sharing of energy resources. It would also create opportunities to export surplus UK renewable power at times of low UK demand, thereby generating revenues for the UK
3. No extra cost for consumers: The UK's share of the EU's renewable targets currently under discussion is lower than the level of renewable energy deployment illustrated in all the Committee on Climate Change's (CCC's) 2030 power decarbonisation scenarios. This means that meeting these targets will not create additional costs for electricity consumers. And the alternatives to renewables would hardly be a bargain for bill payers. Ofgem figures show that between March 2011 and March 2012 bills rose by around £150, and about £100 of that was due to the higher wholesale cost of gas.
4. More jobs: The Commission's own figures show binding targets on renewables and energy efficiency could add half a million more jobs to the sector by 2030 than a binding emissions target alone. This is on top of the 1.2 million jobs the renewable industry has already created across the EU – a 30 per cent increase from 2009 in the midst of the worst recession in a century. In the UK, research shows the offshore wind industry alone could create over 100,000 additional jobs by 2025.
5. Binding targets work: The EU is on track to meet its binding targets to cut emissions and increase the share of renewables but will miss its non-binding energy efficiency goal. This is because binding targets work – they create certainty for investors and cut financing costs. Recent research shows renewable energy sources alone have contributed almost half of all carbon savings achieved in Europe between 2008 and 2012, putting the EU bloc on track to overshoot its emission target for 2020.
Contact: Stefano Gelmini, Greenpeace UK press officer, m 07506 512 442 t 020 7865 8255
