B4-0802/98

Resolution on climate change in the run-up to Buenos Aires (November 1998)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to its resolution of 2 March 1995 on a Strategy for Climatic Protection in the EU ((OJ C 68, 20.3.1995, p. 47.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 14 March 1997 on the Communication from the Commission on a Common Platform : Guidelines for European Union Preparation for the United Nations General Assembly Special Session to be held in New York in June 1997 to review Agenda 21 and related outcomes of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 ((OJ C 115, 14.4.1997, p. 228.)),

- having regard to the resolution adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 30 October 1997 in Lomé (Togo) on ACP/EU cooperation on climate change and the third Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change,

- having regard to its resolution of 30 January 1997 on the Commission Green Paper 'Towards policy options for internalizing the external costs of transport in the European Union¨ ((OJ C 55, 24.2.1997, p. 41.)) and its opinion of 17 July 1997 on the proposal for a Council Directive on the charging of heavy good vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures ((OJ C 286, 22.9.1997, p. 217.)),

- having regard to the Communication from the Commission on Climate Change - The EU Approach for Kyoto (COM(97)0481) and to the Communication from the Commission on the Energy Dimension of Climate Change (COM(97)0196),

- having regard to the Protocol of the 36 AOSIS countries (Alliance of Small Island States) on a 20 percent reduction in CO2 emissions in developed countries by the year 2005,

- having regard to its resolution of 19 November 1997 on the Kyoto Conference on Climate Change ((OJ C 371, 8.12.1997, p. 79.)),

- having regard to the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change of 10 December 1997,

- having regard to the statement made by the Environment Commissioner to Parliament on 18 December 1997,

- having regard to its resolution of 19 February 1998 on environmental policy and climate change following the Kyoto Summit ((OJ C 80, 16.3.1998, p. 227.)),

- having regard to the statements by the Council and the Environment Commissioner on 17 February 1998,

- having regard to the Commission Communication 'Climate Change - Towards an EU Post-Kyoto Strategy¨ (COM(98) 0353),

- having regard to the Conclusions of the Environment Council at its meetings of 23 March and 16 June 1998,

- having regard to the declaration of the non-aligned movement Heads of State Summit held in South Africa from 29 August to 4 September 1998, on allocations of emissions entitlements on an equitable basis,

- having regard to the communication from the Commission, 'Implementing the Community Strategy to Reduce CO2 Emissions from Cars: An Environmental Agreement with the European Automobile Industry' (COM(98)0495),

- having regard to the Solemn Declaration of Stuttgart of 19 June 1983 as regards the involvement of the European Parliament in the conclusion of significant international agreements,

A. whereas the G8 Summit held in Birmingham (England) in May 1998 failed to exercise leadership on this issue,

B. whereas at its meeting in June 1998 the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SUBSTA) failed to make any progress on the issues due to be resolved at COP 4 in Buenos Aires,

C. whereas climate change was a prominent issue during the visits to China by President Clinton and UK Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in his capacity as President-in-Office of the Council in June/July 1998,

D. having regard to the seriousness of the forest fires in 1998 in Indonesia, Brazil, the USA and elsewhere,

E. whereas the commitments entered into by Annex 1 countries in the Kyoto Protocol constitute the first tangible and visible evidence for non-Annex 1 countries that the developed countries are serious about undertaking their proper share of the 'common but differentiated¨ responsibilities for containing and controlling climate change,

F. whereas global carbon dioxide concentrations increased by 30% to 385 ppmv in 1995 from the pre-industrial level of about 280 ppmv and are growing at a rate of 1.5 ppmv per year (0.4% per year),

G. whereas global methane concentrations were about 1720 ppbv, some 2.5 times the pre-industrial concentration of around 700 ppbv, and are currently growing by 8 ppbv per year (0.46% per year),

H. whereas in 1995 global nitrous oxide concentrations in the atmosphere were estimated to be about 312 ppbv, about 15% above the pre-industrial level, and are growing by 0.5 ppbv per year (0.16% per year),

I. whereas 1997 was the hottest year this century, having been 0.43°C warmer than the mean temperature for 1960-1990,

J. whereas, according to the European Environmental Agency in its recent study 'Europe's Environment: The Second Assessment¨, the old EU promise to stabilise carbon dioxide emissions at 1990 levels by the year 2000 is unlikely to be kept,

K. whereas the absence of an agreement between the 15 EU governments to introduce an EU-wide energy/carbon tax along the lines proposed by the European Commission in 1995 makes it very difficult for the EU to fulfil its Kyoto commitment of an 8% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by around 2010,

L. whereas, according to the European Environmental Agency in its recent study 'Europe's Environment: The Second Assessment¨, ensuring that future temperature increases are no greater than 0.1°C per decade and that sea levels rise by no more than 2 cm per decade (provisional limits assumed for sustainability) requires the industrialised countries (Annex 1 countries) to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases by at least 30% (or even 55%) by 2010 compared with 1990 levels,

M. whereas the Kyoto Protocol would be rendered a meaningless gesture were it not to be ratified; whereas, to enter into force, the Protocol requires ratification by no fewer than 55 Parties to the UNFCCC, including Parties included in Annex 1 which accounted in total for at least 55 per cent of the total carbon dioxide emissions for 1990 of the Parties included in Annex 1,

N. whereas, while there are signs that the US Administration is working towards achieving ratification, as evidenced in recent speeches by Vice-President Gore, and that public opinion may be shifting in the same direction, opinion in the US Congress remains overwhelmingly unenthusiastic about the Kyoto Protocol given that it fails to meet the criteria of the Byrd Resolution, requiring a global solution to a global problem,

O. whereas, therefore, the principal task for negotiators in the run-up to COP 4 at Buenos Aires is to seek agreement on a set of common principles and a negotiating framework post-Buenos Aires on the basis of which the Kyoto Protocol can be ratified by all Annex 1 countries, and whereby all non-Annex 1 countries can progressively undertake to introduce emissions limits,

1. Regrets the limitations of the Commission's Strategy Paper and calls on the Commission and the Member States to take the lead in brokering an agreement on a set of common principles and a negotiating framework beyond Buenos Aires;

2. Re-iterates and re-emphasises once again its view that a set of common principles will have to be based on, inter alia:

- agreement to have a worldwide binding limit on global emissions consistent with a maximum atmospheric concentration of 550 ppmv CO2 equivalent,

- initial distribution of emissions rights according to the Kyoto targets,

- progressive convergence towards an equitable distribution of emissions rights on a per capita basis by an agreed date in the next century,

- across-the-board reductions in emissions rights thereafter in order to achieve the reduction recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),

- an agreement to have a quantitative ceiling on the use of flexibility mechanisms that will ensure that the majority of emission reductions are met domestically in accordance with the spirit of articles 6, 12 and 17 of the Kyoto protocol; in this context trading must be subject to proper monitoring, reporting and enforcement;

- an adequately financed mechanism for promoting technology transfer from Annex 1 to non-Annex 1 countries;

3. Pending agreement to such a set of common principles, calls on the Commission and the Council to proceed with the adoption in Europe of all the proposals set out in its 'Elements for a Climate Change Strategy¨ of October 1997; invites the Commission and the Member States to bring forward as a matter of urgency the policies and measures that the European Union must undertake in order to meet its Kyoto commitments;

4. Believes that the Kyoto Protocol is a sound basis for further work in response to climate change, and calls for early ratification of the Protocol in order to ensure achievement of the agreed reductions;

5. Is committed to ensuring that the Kyoto Protocol secures real reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from industrialised countries by 2008-2012;

6. Will work to ensure that the COP agrees to unambiguous, clear and fair rules to regulate Joint Implementation, the Clean Development Mechanisms and Emissions Trading;

7. Emphasises in particular the urgency with which the Commission should bring forward a Green Paper on the application of economic and fiscal instruments targeted specifically at reversing climate change and the removal of counterproductive subsidies;

8. Calls on all parties involved in the decision-making process, and on the Council in particular, to expedite the adoption of a directive introducing a tax on energy and carbon dioxide emissions and a directive restructuring the Community framework for the taxation of energy products;

9. Calls on the European Union to support proposals for a ministerial meeting in Japan in September 1998 and a Friends of the Chair meeting in Canada in October 1998 to establish the political momentum which will be necessary to make Buenos Aires (COP 4) a success;

10. Calls on the United States to take the necessary steps to achieve early ratification of the Kyoto Protocol;

11. Makes the following observations concerning Commission communication COM(98)0495:

a) notes that the Commission communication and the commitment entered into by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) with regard to reducing carbon dioxide emissions from passenger cars (COM(98)0495) do not provide any satisfactory answer to a number of urgent questions which are vital for successful implementation:

- there are no arrangements for the continuation of the commitment should one or more of the assumptions on which ACEA and the Commission have based it not hold true,

- the 'estimated target range' of 165-170 g CO2/km for 2003 referred to in the ACEA commitment is too imprecise a criterion, and could be too weak as the sole indicator for the possible need for a revision,

- the Commission's communication does not describe the procedure for a possible revision in 2003; the reference to a future exchange of letters between the Commission and ACEA cannot be regarded as adequate,

- the procedure involving a joint monitoring system to be operated by ACEA and the Commission, whose implementation is not to be expected in the near future, remains imprecise; here too, the reference to future arrangements to be agreed through an exchange of letters between the Commission and ACEA cannot be regarded as adequate,

- no provision has been made for the eventuality that manufacturers who are members of ACEA may fail to comply with their commitments under the Agreement,

- the proposed procedure for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from cars could become at all worthwhile from the point of view of environmental and economic policy only if the Commission were simultaneously to conclude largely identical agreements with manufacturers who import vehicles into the European Community,

b) stresses that the proposed commitment by ACEA cannot dispel the fundamental doubts as to the effectiveness of voluntary commitments which Parliament has expressed on numerous occasions,

c) shares the Commission's view that the proposed commitment by ACEA requires notification under Article 85 of the EC Treaty,

d) recalls that Parliament and the Council have jointly formulated an objective of 120 g/km (5 l/100 km for petrol engines and 4.5 l/100 km for diesel engines) as a mean value for carbon dioxide emissions in 2005; this objective can be attained only if taken in conjunction with instruments to provide tax incentives and provisions concerning uniform description of the mean consumption of new vehicles,

e) can accept the procedure announced by the Commission in its communication only on condition that the above open questions are satisfactorily resolved in the negotiations with ACEA and the other associations;

12. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the governments and parliaments of the Member States and the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, with the request that it be circulated to all non-EU contracting parties.