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Europe’s renewables lobby has reacted angrily to the EU’s Whitepaper on energy and climate change. The European Commission presented its proposal for a climate and energy framework 2030. The proposal includes a binding greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of 40 per cent and a binding EU-level target of 27 per cent for renewable energy.
“After a heated internal debate on whether to propose a very unambitious or just an unambitious climate and energy framework for 2030, the Commission has chosen the latter”, said EREC’s President, Rainer Hinrichs-Rahlwes. The European Commission’s White Paper proposes a domestic greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target of 40 per cent, a share of 27 per cent renewable energy and leaves energy efficiency without a target altogether.
“What’s more, the Commission is undermining its own findings from the impact assessment and has opted for less growth, fewer jobs and more spending on fossil fuel import”, emphasised Hinrichs-Rahlwes.
He said about 600 000 more jobs would be created and €258 billion of fossil fuel imports would be saved with a 30 per cent renewables target in addition to a GHG target, according to the impact assessment accompanying the Communication. With a target of 35 per cent renewables those savings would amount to €358 billion.
“If you wanted to shift investments further away from Europe, you would go about it no other way. The Commission is weakening the EU’s international competitiveness and industrial leadership”, continued Hinrichs-Rahlwes. EREC, together with various other stakeholders, is calling for a mutually reinforcing policy framework, including a binding target for renewable energy of 45 per cent,” commented Hinrichs-Rahlwes.
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.”
