date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 19:56:10 +0200
from: Martin Welp <martin.welp@pik-potsdam.de>
subject: Press Release: ECF (30.03.04)
to: info@european-climate-forum.net

   PRESS RELEASE 30.03.04
   European Climate Forum (ECF)
   Climate Policy - The Need for European Leadership
   The European Climate Forum - a platform for joint studies on climate change founded by
   seven leading European research institutes together with businesses and NGOs - calls for
   new initiatives to exploit the full potential of emissions trading.
   The world is watching Europe for leadership in climate policy. Currently, Europe is
   implementing emissions trading, a key instrument of climate policy. After years of debates
   and negotiations, this is the first large-scale experience with a practical step to address
   the challenge of climate change.
   By the end of March, the National Allocation Plans that provide the basis for emissions
   trading have to be finalized. Unfortunately, various voices - including the Union of
   Industrial and Employers' Confederation of Europe and the European commissioner for energy
   - are trying to undermine that process. Today's compromise between the German minister for
   economics and the minister for the environment has averted one such attempt. While we share
   the concern for European competitiveness, critics of emissions trading fail to acknowledge
   two key facts: humankind is currently headed for dangerous climate change, and European
   competitiveness can actually be enhanced by engaging in the experience of emissions
   trading.
   Everybody understands that it is wise not to fly an airplane in which some key components
   may cause disaster. The current global energy system has become such an airplane. The
   reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as well as the recent
   Pentagon study on the risks of abrupt climate change show that the risks of man-made
   climate change are serious beyond reasonable doubt.
   The Kyoto protocol has helped to consolidate wordwide concern about climate change and it
   has established the idea of emissions trading in the international policy debate. To
   proceed further, it will be necessary to show Russia that it is in its own best interest to
   join the protocol.
   To reap the benefits of European climate policy, it will also be necessary to establish
   bilateral partnerships between Europe and other world regions:
   - An energy partnership between Europe and North Africa provides opportunities for major
   steps towards a sustainable energy system, using first natural gas and then solar energy,
   - A partnership between Europe and China can lead to major emissions reductions by joint
   developments of more efficient energy technologies,
   - European cities can engage in partnerships with megacities in developing countries to
   harness the potential of information technologies for sustainable urban development.
   All these initiatives provide large business opportunities. Europe needs these
   opportunities both for environmental reasons and in order to overcome persistent
   unemployment. A properly functioning emission trading system, linked to other climate
   policy initiatives, will spur technological innovation in Europe in areas like renewable
   energy, highly efficient energy use, and new transport systems. Rather than quarreling over
   the details of the implementation of emissions trading in Europe, we should be planning how
   best to take advantage technologically and economically of this system.
   The scientific founding members of the European Climate Forum are:
   Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
   Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg
   Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, Norwich
   Fondazione ENI Enrico Mattei, Milano
   Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Centre, Bergen
   Paur Scherrer Institut, ETH Zrich
   National Center on Environment and Development, Paris
   Businesses working with ECF include:
   Munich Re, Deutsche Telekom, Asea Brown Boveri, Alstom, as well as the European Business
   Council for Sustainable Energy
   NGOs working with ECF include:
   Greenpeace, WWF, and Germanwatch
   For a view of debates carried on in ECF see:
   K. Hasselmann et al., The Challenge of Long-term Climate Change. Science magazine, Nr.
   5652, 2003.
   For further information see:
   [1]www.European-Climate-Forum.net
   Contact:
   Dr. Martin Welp, martin.welp@pik-potsdam.de, Tel. +49-(0)331-288 2619

      European Climate Forum (ECF) provides a platform for joint studies, dialogues and the
     exchange of views between scientists, corporations, companies and NGOs. The non-profit
   association was founded in 2001 by seven leading European research institutes in the field
             of climate and energy studies as well as business and NGO members. See:
                                [2]www.european-climate-forum.net

