The European Parliament adopted by 485 votes to 109, with 45 abstentions, a resolution on the Climate Change Conference (COP 18) to be held in Doha from 26 November to 8 December 2012. The resolution was tabled by the EPP, S&D, ALDE, Greens/EFA, ECR and GUE/NGL groups.
DurbanPlatform for Enhanced Action: Parliament states that the Doha Conference must build on the momentum achieved in Durban in order to ensure that a legally binding global agreement remains on track and will be delivered by 2015. It stresses that the EU needs to lead by example, by implementing its commitments and demonstrating ambition on both mitigation and finance. Accordingly, it is the responsibility of all the EU institutions, in advance of the Doha Conference, to engage in intensive climate diplomacy and the building of international alliances to ensure that the commitments made in the Durban Package are honoured and that the UNFCCC process is streamlined towards a new multilateral regime to be agreed by 2015.
Parliament emphasises that it is important to clarify how the Convention principles will be applied in a post-2020 framework so that all the Parties take on commitments, and the new market-based mechanism, defined at COP 17, is of particular importance in this regard. The new legal instrument will need to ensure mitigation action in line with a global carbon budget consistent with maintaining climate change at below 2°C compared with preindustrial levels, along with the means for the required climate action in developing countries, as well as robust accounting, monitoring and reporting and a robust enforcement and compliance regime.
Kyoto Protocol - second commitment period: Members state that the EU has to intensify its efforts to find solutions for joint measures to bring all the main actors on board to agree to a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol to begin on 1 January 2013, as a transition to a new, more effective and comprehensive legally binding international regime binding all the Parties, to enter into force by 2020. Taking note of the absence of the USA, Russia, Japan and Canada from the possible second commitment period and of the uncertainty of Australia and New Zealand about joining it, and the continuing lack of emissions reduction targets for developing countries such as China, India, Brazil and Indonesia, Parliament calls for the adoption in Doha of the necessary amendments so that the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, which will end on 31 December 2020, can start immediately on a provisional basis.
Members call on those Annex B Parties which have not yet done so to submit their quantified emission limitation or reduction objectives (QELROs), and welcome the initial EU submission in this regard. They stress that the carry-over of assigned amount units (AAUs) to the second commitment period would undermine the integrity of the Kyoto Protocol, and point out that if Member States are allowed to transfer AAUs, the Kyoto Protocol will have no real effect on climate mitigation. Welcoming the proposal of the Group of 77 and China effectively to contain and minimise the use of the surplus, Parliament notes that the EU has so far not put forward a proposal to address the surplus of AAUs.
Mitigation gap: Members emphasise the urgent need for all the Parties, firstly, to implement their pledges and, secondly, to raise their ambition levels between now and 2020, in order to stay within the 2 C objective. There must be progress in closing the ‘gigatonne gap’ between the scientific findings and the Parties’ current pledges, together with binding commitments, based on the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities’: poorer countries should – through financial and technological assistance, but also capacity-building measures – be enabled to make the direct transition to an advanced low‑carbon energy and economic system. Parliament calls, in particular, on the Parties to take urgent measures, with effect by 2015 at the latest, to reduce emissions from international aviation and maritime transport, along with other relevant sectors, and to reduce hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), black carbon, methane and other short-lived climate forcers, in order to close the gap with the 2ºC objective.
The resolution recalls that, according to the findings of the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report, industrialised countries need to reduce their domestic emissions by 25-40 % below 1990 levels by 2020, while developing countries as a group should achieve a substantial deviation below the currently predicted emissions growth rate, of the order of 15-30 %, by 2020. It states that it is in the EU’s own interest to aim for a climate protection target of 30 % by 2020, thus creating sustainable growth, additional jobs and decreasing dependency on energy imports.
Climate finance: Members stress the urgent need to avoid a financing gap after 2012 (when the fast-start finance period ends) and to work towards the identification of a path for securing climate funding from 2013 to 2020 from a variety of sources. The majority of Member States have still not made any pledges for climate financing post-2013. Parliament notes with concern that while developed countries have committed themselves to providing USD 100 billion a year for climate financing by 2020, there is so far no internationally agreed definition of what ‘new and additional’ actually means. It calls on the Commission to ensure that financing is new and additional, and further to promote innovative financing sources, such as international financial transaction taxes and international air and sea transport duties.
Land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF): Parliament calls on the EU to promote agro‑forestry or organic agriculture, especially in LDCs, as they contribute to both climate change mitigation and poverty alleviation by enabling local communities to diversify their sources of income.
Furthermore, Members consider it regrettable that the ‘sustainability criteria’ listed in Directive 2009/28/EC (the Renewable Energy Directive) and the Directive 2009/30/EC (the Fuel Quality Directive) with regard to biofuels are limited in scope and insufficient to contain the negative effects of the expansion of agro-fuels, in particular through indirect land-use change (ILUC).
The EU needs to upgrade its sustainability and certification criteria with regard to biofuels. Parliament asks the EU and its Member States only to accept agro-fuels that demonstrably reduce greenhouse gas emissions, pose no significant land-use issues, do not threaten people’s food security and do not risk conservation conflicts. The Commission is urged to develop legally binding sustainability criteria for biomass, to incorporate ILUC calculations into the existing sustainability criteria for agro-fuels and to incorporate ILUC and carbon-debt calculations into the sustainability criteria for bioenergy.
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+): Members note that REDD+ has an important role to play in reducing the mitigation gap by 2020. They call for the Parties to show a strong political commitment towards developing innovative financing solutions for REDD+, and oppose the trading of forest carbon and the inclusion of REDD+ in carbon markets, which would lead to an over-allocation of credits and a further decrease in the price of carbon.
International aviation and maritime transport: Members reiterate their calls for international instruments with global emissions reduction targets to curb the climate impact of international aviation and maritime transport, and they continues to stand behind the inclusion of aviation in the European emissions trading scheme (ETS). They want Member States to use revenues from the auctioning of aviation allowances as contributions to the scaling-up of climate finance in developing countries from 2013.
Transformation toward a sustainable economy and industry: Parliament is concerned about global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion reaching a record high in 2011. The financial and budgetary crisis affecting the EU should not curb its level of ambition or that of its industries, consumers and Member States in respect of the international climate negotiations in Doha.
Parliament notes that the prices of different energy sources play a major role in determining the behaviour of market actors, and that the inability of the current international policy framework fully to internalise external costs perpetuates unsustainable consumption patterns. Recalling that a global carbon market would be a sound basis for achieving both substantial emission abatements and a level playing field for the industry, it calls on the EU and its partners to find the most effective way of promoting links between the EU ETS and other trading schemes with the aim of achieving a global carbon market and ensuring greater diversity of abatement options, improved market size and liquidity, transparency and, ultimately, more efficient allocation of resources for the energy sector and industry.
Research and technology: Members call for an international commitment to increase research and development (R&D) investment in breakthrough technologies in the relevant sectors. The EU must lead by example by substantially increasing its expenditure devoted to research on climate‑friendly and energy-efficient industrial and energy technologies, and develop close scientific cooperation in this field with international partners, such as the BRIC countries and the USA. Furthermore, the EU should support efforts to enable LDCs to find partners and financing for investments in renewable energy and green technologies and Parliament calls on the Commission to come forward with ideas for common research programmes on alternative energy sources and for how the EU can encourage cooperation between developed and developing countries within various industrial sectors.
Energy efficiency and resource efficiency: Members consider it regrettable that energy savings potential is not being tackled adequately, either internationally or in the EU. They emphasise that energy savings facilitate job creation, economic savings, energy security, competitiveness and emissions cuts. The EU must pay more attention to energy savings in international negotiations when discussing technology transfer, development plans for developing countries or financial assistance. Parliament emphasises that in order to be credible, the EU and its Member States must meet their own targets. It also stresses the need to address the energy poverty issue in accordance with climate policy objectives. Members find it regrettable that the UNFCCC and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) are not sufficiently coordinated, and urge the EU and its Member States, accordingly, to link their climate change objectives closely to biodiversity protection objectives at the forthcoming COP 11 in Hyderabad.
European Parliament delegation: Parliament finds it unacceptable that Members of the European Parliament have been unable to attend the EU coordination meetings at previous Conferences of the Parties, and expects at least the Chair of the Parliament delegation to be allowed to attend the EU coordination meetings in Doha.