Peter Liese: Europe has to save the international process, but cannot bear the burden alone / More focus on competitiveness / Task Force for Carbon Markets very successful / Urgently include negative emissions in European emissions trading system
“After Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential elections, the European Union is now even more important than ever in international climate policy. The EU has always been a pioneer in international climate negotiations and, precisely because there is currently no government capable of acting in France, Germany and many other EU countries, it is good that climate policy at the international level is not shaped by the member states, but by the EU. However, we cannot bear the burden alone when it comes to financing and reducing emissions. In the future we will have to pay much more attention to the competitiveness of our economy, especially industry, small and medium-sized businesses and agriculture," said the environmental policy spokesman for the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats), Dr. Peter Liese in view of the start of the climate conference in Baku.
Liese highlighted the positive fact that the European Union is seeing more and more interest in its emissions trading system. “Many third countries want to imitate our system. This is certainly also because in the future they will otherwise have to make compensatory payments at the border for energy-intensive products such as steel. I am very pleased that the European Commission now has a task force for this issue and is conducting intensive negotiations with third countries. We also need a reduction in bureaucracy and an acceleration of planning for projects that aim at climate protection. Regarding financial support for third countries, it is of no use to keep obligating Europe to ever higher payments. National budgets are tight, and we cannot explain to taxpayers why they should contribute even more when, at the same time, wealthy countries like Saudi Arabia and China make no significant contributions,” emphasised Liese.
The environmental politician sees a great opportunity in new technologies for capturing CO2 from the atmosphere. “We urgently need these technologies if we are to even come close to the Paris climate goal of under 2 degrees in the long term. For this reason, in my view, it is important to include them in the European emissions trading system as quickly as possible. There are companies that now offer such technologies at 100 euros per tonne of CO2. And as always, when investments in a technology are made, one can assume that costs will go down even further. A revision of the European emissions trading system is required anyway. Under the current system, there will be no certificates left in 2039. This means that parts of the emissions trading scheme would need to be climate-neutral by 2039, which may be technically feasible but would not be economically viable,” insisted the EPP Member of the European Parliament.
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