Ivan Scrase, Senior Climate Change Policy Officer - Renewable Energy
Tomorrow we will find out how the EU sees its role in climate and energy policy after 2020. In the mean time, the UK Government is reviewing of each area of EU policy ‘competence’, from agriculture to taxation. This includes reviews of environmental, climate and energy policy making in Brussels. We see the EU as a positive force for environmental protection - take a look at our report here to see why.
Of course, the questions asked in the UK Government’s review are mainly about what Europe does for UK plc, rather than what is best for nature or to prevent climate chaos.
We’ve recently sent in our response on energy policy. While some EU energy initiatives are not working as they should yet, such as the emissions trading scheme, others are working well. The Renewable Energy Directive and the EU’s 2020 target for renewable energy have ensured all European countries are playing their part in developing cleaner energy technologies. This has driven down costs and led to innovation in renewables, bringing a sustainable energy system within reach – vital in the fight against climate change.
The EU’s nature protection laws have mostly worked well to ensure the right renewables are developed in the right places, without harming birds and wildlife. There have been some unfortunate exceptions in terms of technologies and locations, of course. For a balanced review of the evidence on impacts, and for both sides of that story, see our report on ‘Meeting Europe’s Renewable Energy targets in Harmony With Nature’.
Tomorrow the European Commission will release its long-awaited proposals on its climate and energy framework for the period from 2020 to 2030. Working with our BirdLife partners across Europe, we have called for the package to include ambitious and binding targets on greenhouse gas emissions, renewables and energy savings. The framework also needs strong safeguards to make sure renewables do not harm nature and that they really do cut emissions, which means less emphasis on biofuels and more on technologies like wind, wave and solar.
Wednesday’s announcement will be the start of a long process of sorting out how Europe will respond to the climate and energy challenge. We say the UK should get behind an ambitious renewables target for Europe. As this briefing shows, renewables are central to achieving the UK’s climate commitments. And EU renewables targets are also good for UK jobs and UK plc.
We’ll update you on what the EU announces in the next climate blog post. And if you’ve any comments or queries on the RSPB’s and BirdLife’s work on European energy and renewables policies, do use this blog’s comment box!