. Earth Science News .




.
FROTH AND BUBBLE
EC: Poland veto won't stop 'road map'
by Staff Writers
Brussels (UPI) Mar 14, 2012

disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only

Poland's move to block the adoption of the EU's low-carbon "road map" for 2050 won't derail the goal, European Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard says.

Polish Environment Minister Marcin Korolec cast the lone dissenting vote Friday as the 27-member European Council met in Brussels to adopt interim targets meant to reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.

It was the second time in eight months coal-dependent Poland has vetoed ambitious EU goals for a low-carbon future. Warsaw last year also was the only EU member to oppose a commitment to lower carbon emissions after 2020.

But Hedegaard vowed Saturday the European Commission will nevertheless succeed in implementing the low-carbon road map, which needs to have the unanimous approval of EU member states before continuing on its path to legally binding status.

"Poland's 'no' to the European Commission low-carbon roadmap is unfortunate but it will not stop Europe from moving on with its transition to a low-carbon economy," she said in a statement.

"The bad news was that Poland blocked council conclusions for the second time. The good and encouraging news is that Poland was the only country to block. The (Danish) presidency and the other 26 member states explicitly asked the commission to move on, and that is what we will do."

Poland specifically opposed interim carbon emissions reduction targets that were proposed to kick in before reaching the ultimate goal of reducing emissions to 80 percent of 1990 levels by 2050.

Those interim goals included a 40 percent cut by 2030 and 60 percent reduction by 2040. The EU has a legally binding current reduction target of 20 percent by 2020.

Hedegaard criticized Poland for invoking the doctrine of "subsidiarity" in opposing the interim targets, which in effect calls for national and local governments to be allowed to come up with their own ways to achieve EU directives.

"Let's imagine that we said the same about the economic crisis, that the EU defined the economic target for 2050 but how to reach it and whether anything happened in the next 38 years would be an exclusive matter for individual member states," she said.

"Everyone can see that this wouldn't work. This is also true when it comes to our climate policies."

Poland generates more than 90 percent of its electricity from coal-burning power plants and its government has come under tremendous pressure by the business community to oppose the road map.

The Polish Chamber of Commerce contends implementing the measures would cost the country's industry $7 billion per year after 2030, inflicting deep losses to Polish companies, the Warsaw Business Journal reported.

But the strong support from the other EU nations and the European Parliament for the road map has served to increasingly isolate Poland.

"This is the time for European leaders who designed our current system to stop Poland from dictating the terms of European climate policy," Jason Anderson, head of EU climate policy for the World Wildlife Fund, said in a statement.

"One member state just can't block a decade of progress in Europe's approach to this issue."

Related Links
Our Polluted World and Cleaning It Up




.
.
Get Our Free Newsletters Via Email
...
Buy Advertising Editorial Enquiries






.

. Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle



FROTH AND BUBBLE
Gorbachev calls for global court for environmental crimes
Paris (AFP) March 13, 2012
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev called on Tuesday for the creation of an international court to try environmental crimes, in an interview published in French daily Le Monde. "I would personally look favourably upon creating an international tribunal to try those responsible for environmental crimes, both business leaders and the heads of state or government," the 81-year-old Nobel Pea ... read more


FROTH AND BUBBLE
Japan's nuclear disaster: a timeline

Japan strives to win back tourists

Meltdown intel emerges ahead of Japan anniversary

Nothing stirs in Japan's nuclear ghost town

FROTH AND BUBBLE
AU Optronics guilty in display screen price-fixing case

China prepares rare earths defense

Lockheed Martin Space Fence Radar Prototype Tracking Orbiting Objects

Lost smartphones mined by finders: Symantec

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Mauritius, Seychelles to jointly manage Indian Ocean shelf

Oceans Acidifying Faster today Than in Past 300 Million Years

Small is good in quest to resolve water crisis

Israel says it backs Gaza Strip desalination plant

FROTH AND BUBBLE
China to conduct Arctic expedition

S. Korean, Russian scientists bid to clone mammoth

NASA Finds Thickest Parts of Arctic Ice Cap Melting Faster

Greenland icesheet more vulnerable than thought to warming

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Commonly used herbicides seen as threat to endangered butterflies

Auchan supermarkets reports profit rise on action in China

Myanmar soldiers shot dead China farmer: Beijing

World breakthrough on salt-tolerant wheat

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Tropical Storm Irina kills three in Mozambique:official

Greek volcanic island shows activity

Small tsunami hits Japan after 6.9 quake

Effects of flooding on Cairo

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Bloodhounds deployed to fight elephant poaching in DR Congo

AU troops to replace Ethopian forces in key Somali cities

Former Ugandan child soldier backs viral video

Mali rebels strike amid post-Libya anarchy

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Knowledge gap widens gulf between South Asian nations

Human-like fossils in China caves puzzle scientists

First Evidence of Hunting by Prehistoric Ohioans

Lockheed Martin and ZyGEM To Offer Rapid DNA Analysis Platform for Human Identity Testing


Memory Foam Mattress Review

Newsletters :: SpaceDaily Express :: SpaceWar Express :: TerraDaily Express :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

.

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2012 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement