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The UK government could face legal action from Brussels over plans to slash feed-in tariffs for solar installations and introduce energy efficiency requirements on buildings seeking the incentives, the European Commission has revealed.
Energy commissioner Günther Oettinger yesterday confirmed legal proceedings would be launched if changes to the feed-in tariff scheme threatened progress towards the UK's binding EU target to supply 15 per cent of its energy from renewable sources.
Responding to a question from Green MEP for London Jean Lambert, Oettinger said legal action would be taken against any member state which weakened its policies in such a way that they threatened progress towards their green energy targets.
He also confirmed that the EU had already been in contact with the government over the consultation.
"Whenever Member States revise their support for support schemes for renewable energy, they need to do so in a manner which does not destabilise the renewable energy industry or risk undermining their own plans to achieve their 2020 targets," he said.
"Should the UK or any Member State weaken policies in such a way that it would threaten progress towards their targets, the Commission would take action, launching legal proceedings if necessary."
The government has consistently maintained the changes to the incentives are necessary to stop the feed-in tariff scheme exceeding its budget, and that the cuts will not threaten the UK's renewable energy or emission reduction targets.
But in a statement Lambert argued the UK's current plans, which will more than halve feed-in tariffs and place a requirement on buildings to meet energy efficiency standards before receiving feed-in tariffs, will put thousands of jobs at risk in the solar industry and cause bankruptcies.
"Under the Commission's ruling, the UK is prevented from making amendments to support schemes which could jeopardise the renewables industry, yet sudden, drastic cuts to the tariff will strip away investor confidence, reduce the market for solar companies across the country, and threaten jobs," she said.
"In the current climate, with unemployment reaching record levels, we can ill afford further job losses which could potentially reach into the thousands. This would seem to be a risky move: "destabilising" the industry by anyone's definition."
She urged the UK government to prove its plans to slash the subsidy will not stop the UK from delivering 15 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020 as required under the EU directive.
Earlier this week it emerged the High Court has refused to proceed with legal action by Friends of the Earth and two solar power firms seeking to block the deep cuts to feed-in tariffs.
However, the court will next week hear an appeal against the decision.
In related news, the Solar Trade Association is seeking signatories for a letter that will urge the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister to intervene to block the controversial cuts to the incentives.
The letter will be delivered on 13 December, one day after the proposed cut off for solar installations to receive the current rate of incentives.
"Letter to PM & DPM on Solar #FIT Review... To sign it, email jbeard@r-e-a.net with your name, position and company!," Howard Johns, chairman of the STA, wrote on Twitter.
The letter warns that energy ministers have signed off proposals which could see the sector reduced to a tenth of its current size, at the cost of tens of thousands of jobs.
"Failure to secure a sensible solution to the unfolding crisis in the solar power industry makes no sense for tax-payers, consumers or voters." it says.
David Cameron side-stepped a call to halt the plans at Prime Minister's Question Time last month.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Isra-Mart srl: Environment Agency taskforce orders businesses to bin waste crime
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The Environment Agency has ploughed £5m into a new taskforce as it looks to crackdown on illegal waste sites in England and Wales, warning businesses to be on the lookout for offenders.
Around 600 illegal waste sites are thought to be in operation in the UK, potentially contaminating land and rivers with oil and toxic chemicals.
The agency closed or brought into regulation 1,195 illegal waste sites, undertook 400 waste-related prosecutions during 2010/11, and has recouped almost £1m from offenders through court orders in the last six months.
However, the problem has not been eradicated and the task force, which will include former police detectives, will be charged with gathering intelligence and acting quickly to close the remaining sites.
The agency also warned businesses to be wary of anyone offering cheap waste disposal services and urged companies to check if waste management firms have a valid licence.
It added that businesses must complete waste transfer notes - and keep them for two years - and use the NetRegs Waste Directory to find licensed recycling and waste disposal sites.
"Waste crime is a serious offence that poses a risk to human health and can damage the environment," said Dr Paul Leinster, chief executive of the Environment Agency. "If you're involved in illegal waste activities, you should be looking over your shoulder and expecting a visit from our enforcement officers.
"We'll press for the strongest possible penalties - including prison - for those convicted of these crimes against communities."
Isra-Mart news:
The Environment Agency has ploughed £5m into a new taskforce as it looks to crackdown on illegal waste sites in England and Wales, warning businesses to be on the lookout for offenders.
Around 600 illegal waste sites are thought to be in operation in the UK, potentially contaminating land and rivers with oil and toxic chemicals.
The agency closed or brought into regulation 1,195 illegal waste sites, undertook 400 waste-related prosecutions during 2010/11, and has recouped almost £1m from offenders through court orders in the last six months.
However, the problem has not been eradicated and the task force, which will include former police detectives, will be charged with gathering intelligence and acting quickly to close the remaining sites.
The agency also warned businesses to be wary of anyone offering cheap waste disposal services and urged companies to check if waste management firms have a valid licence.
It added that businesses must complete waste transfer notes - and keep them for two years - and use the NetRegs Waste Directory to find licensed recycling and waste disposal sites.
"Waste crime is a serious offence that poses a risk to human health and can damage the environment," said Dr Paul Leinster, chief executive of the Environment Agency. "If you're involved in illegal waste activities, you should be looking over your shoulder and expecting a visit from our enforcement officers.
"We'll press for the strongest possible penalties - including prison - for those convicted of these crimes against communities."
Isra-Mart srl: Durban close to breakthrough climate deal
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Rumours are circulating at the UN's climate summit in Durban that a major deal could be reached in the next 24 hours, paving the way for a global emissions reduction treaty to be agreed by 2015.
Unconfirmed reports suggest high level ministerial negotiations could be closing in on a breakthrough, with observers speculating that the EU and the China and G77 group of developing economies are close to a deal that could see the Kyoto Protocol extended and a roadmap agreed towards a parallel legally binding treaty.
A series of press conferences were cancelled this afternoon as closed door negotiations overran, prompting a flurry of excitement in the conference hall.
The WWF's Samantha Smith told the RTCC website that China was "putting more detail on the table" outlining its conditions for an agreement.
"They put their initial proposal on the table in a meeting with NGOs on Sunday, it was rather detailed then," she said. "But when they were in the informals and in press conferences they were not giving a detailed proposal. My impression is that other countries have now come back to them with different offers and that is moving the process along, that is why everyone is running around."
She added that a number of other countries, including Brazil, were also putting forward new texts, several of which have been well received and have fuelled hopes an agreement can be reached tomorrow.
In addition, RTCC said there were unconfirmed reports that a deal on the structure for the proposed $100bn Green Fund had been "signed off", while separately observers writing on the social media site Twitter suggested agreements were close to being finalised on reforms to the REDD forest protection scheme and the CDM offsetting scheme.
Earlier in the day, hopes that an agreement could be reached on the EU's proposed roadmap were fuelled by comments from US climate envoy Todd Stern in which he said the US supported the idea of a new roadmap and wanted to see an ambitious international deal reached by 2020.
Silvia Merega, chief negotiator for the G77 group, similarly told news agencies that the negotiations on the proposed roadmap were progressing well. "We have no problem dealing with what will be the next steps after Durban," he said. "We have to have some kind of rules. I don't know at this point if these rules would establish what the outcome of the negotiation would be."
Meanwhile, the Guardian reported that the African Group of Nations has also signalled its support for the EU plan, despite remaining frustrated at the stance of the US and those countries that have ruled out signing up to a second Kyoto commitment period.
However, while the group of least developed countries has supported the EU's plans for a new roadmap any agreement is likely to be met with a mixed response from green groups and development charities.
Critics have already warned that delaying a treaty until 2020 risks missing the opportunity to avoid temperature increases of over two degrees and could result in temperature increases of over four degrees unless extremely steep emission reductions are delivered post 2020.
Moreover, there remain no guarantees that a deal will be finalised with the EU remaining insistent that it will only sign up to a second Kyoto commitment period if other large emitters make detailed commitments to agree a new binding treaty by 2015.
A number of countries, including India and the US, have been reluctant to make such a commitment, while it also remains unclear how Japan, Russia and Canada, which have each signalled they will not extend the Kyoto Protocol, will fit into any new deal.
Negotiations are now expected to extend late into the evening ahead of the official final day of the summit tomorrow.
Ministers moved this evening to counsel against undue optimism. British Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne led the way, telling the Press Association that while good progress was being made the mooted deal could still "go pear-shaped".
However, reports continued to circulate that the US, Canada, and Brazil had all agreed to support the EU's roadmap, leaving China and India under growing pressure to sign on to the plan.
Isra-Mart news:
Rumours are circulating at the UN's climate summit in Durban that a major deal could be reached in the next 24 hours, paving the way for a global emissions reduction treaty to be agreed by 2015.
Unconfirmed reports suggest high level ministerial negotiations could be closing in on a breakthrough, with observers speculating that the EU and the China and G77 group of developing economies are close to a deal that could see the Kyoto Protocol extended and a roadmap agreed towards a parallel legally binding treaty.
A series of press conferences were cancelled this afternoon as closed door negotiations overran, prompting a flurry of excitement in the conference hall.
The WWF's Samantha Smith told the RTCC website that China was "putting more detail on the table" outlining its conditions for an agreement.
"They put their initial proposal on the table in a meeting with NGOs on Sunday, it was rather detailed then," she said. "But when they were in the informals and in press conferences they were not giving a detailed proposal. My impression is that other countries have now come back to them with different offers and that is moving the process along, that is why everyone is running around."
She added that a number of other countries, including Brazil, were also putting forward new texts, several of which have been well received and have fuelled hopes an agreement can be reached tomorrow.
In addition, RTCC said there were unconfirmed reports that a deal on the structure for the proposed $100bn Green Fund had been "signed off", while separately observers writing on the social media site Twitter suggested agreements were close to being finalised on reforms to the REDD forest protection scheme and the CDM offsetting scheme.
Earlier in the day, hopes that an agreement could be reached on the EU's proposed roadmap were fuelled by comments from US climate envoy Todd Stern in which he said the US supported the idea of a new roadmap and wanted to see an ambitious international deal reached by 2020.
Silvia Merega, chief negotiator for the G77 group, similarly told news agencies that the negotiations on the proposed roadmap were progressing well. "We have no problem dealing with what will be the next steps after Durban," he said. "We have to have some kind of rules. I don't know at this point if these rules would establish what the outcome of the negotiation would be."
Meanwhile, the Guardian reported that the African Group of Nations has also signalled its support for the EU plan, despite remaining frustrated at the stance of the US and those countries that have ruled out signing up to a second Kyoto commitment period.
However, while the group of least developed countries has supported the EU's plans for a new roadmap any agreement is likely to be met with a mixed response from green groups and development charities.
Critics have already warned that delaying a treaty until 2020 risks missing the opportunity to avoid temperature increases of over two degrees and could result in temperature increases of over four degrees unless extremely steep emission reductions are delivered post 2020.
Moreover, there remain no guarantees that a deal will be finalised with the EU remaining insistent that it will only sign up to a second Kyoto commitment period if other large emitters make detailed commitments to agree a new binding treaty by 2015.
A number of countries, including India and the US, have been reluctant to make such a commitment, while it also remains unclear how Japan, Russia and Canada, which have each signalled they will not extend the Kyoto Protocol, will fit into any new deal.
Negotiations are now expected to extend late into the evening ahead of the official final day of the summit tomorrow.
Ministers moved this evening to counsel against undue optimism. British Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne led the way, telling the Press Association that while good progress was being made the mooted deal could still "go pear-shaped".
However, reports continued to circulate that the US, Canada, and Brazil had all agreed to support the EU's roadmap, leaving China and India under growing pressure to sign on to the plan.
Isra-Mart srl: US insists it supports EU calls for climate treaty roadmap
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The US has rejected accusations that it is blocking plans to deliver a global climate change treaty, insisting it supports EU proposals for a new roadmap that could see an international treaty to curb emissions agreed by 2015.
The US and India have been widely blamed for blocking the EU plan, which would see the bloc sign up to an extension of the Kyoto Protocol if other major economies commit to agreeing a binding climate deal by 2015 that would then come into force by 2020 at the latest.
However, speaking earlier today US climate envoy Todd Stern told reporters the US did support the EU plan.
"It is completely off base to suggest the US is proposing it will delay action to 2020," he said. "The EU has called for a roadmap. We support that."
He said the US is fully engaged with the negotiations and remains committed to delivering a binding international treaty that imposes obligations on all countries. "The kind of roadmap that countries have called for, that the EU has called for, that the US supports," he said, although he failed to provide further details on whether the US would sign up to a formal roadmap agreement.
Stern also further fuelled hopes an agreement could be reached on the shape of the proposed $100bn a year Green Fund, confirming he remains optimistic a deal can be finalised.
Stern's comments came ahead of British energy and climate change secretary Chris Huhne's address to the conference, during which he reiterated the EU would only extend the Kyoto Protocol if other nations agree to ambitious emissions-reduction targets.
"Together with the EU, we have clearly stated we are willing to move to a second Kyoto commitment period, maintaining ambition and environmental integrity," he said.
"But to do that in isolation makes no sense... That would not provide the certainty investors need; it would not close the emissions gap; it would not meet the hopes of Cancun; it would not help the poor and the vulnerable.
"We need a clear roadmap to a wider agreement. If that roadmap cannot be agreed here in Durban, we will not agree a second commitment period of Kyoto."
The US intervention suggests such a roadmap could yet be agreed, but with less than two days to go to the official close of the summit a large number of issues remain unresolved.
Most notably, the US, China and India appear unlikely to sign up to the new roadmap without further details on what an eventual treaty would look like when it is finalised in 2015.
Moreover, all the key players remain hugely divided on the crucial subject of how emissions reductions should be shared, with emerging economies continuing to argue that industrialised nations must shoulder more of the costs.
Isra-Mart news:
The US has rejected accusations that it is blocking plans to deliver a global climate change treaty, insisting it supports EU proposals for a new roadmap that could see an international treaty to curb emissions agreed by 2015.
The US and India have been widely blamed for blocking the EU plan, which would see the bloc sign up to an extension of the Kyoto Protocol if other major economies commit to agreeing a binding climate deal by 2015 that would then come into force by 2020 at the latest.
However, speaking earlier today US climate envoy Todd Stern told reporters the US did support the EU plan.
"It is completely off base to suggest the US is proposing it will delay action to 2020," he said. "The EU has called for a roadmap. We support that."
He said the US is fully engaged with the negotiations and remains committed to delivering a binding international treaty that imposes obligations on all countries. "The kind of roadmap that countries have called for, that the EU has called for, that the US supports," he said, although he failed to provide further details on whether the US would sign up to a formal roadmap agreement.
Stern also further fuelled hopes an agreement could be reached on the shape of the proposed $100bn a year Green Fund, confirming he remains optimistic a deal can be finalised.
Stern's comments came ahead of British energy and climate change secretary Chris Huhne's address to the conference, during which he reiterated the EU would only extend the Kyoto Protocol if other nations agree to ambitious emissions-reduction targets.
"Together with the EU, we have clearly stated we are willing to move to a second Kyoto commitment period, maintaining ambition and environmental integrity," he said.
"But to do that in isolation makes no sense... That would not provide the certainty investors need; it would not close the emissions gap; it would not meet the hopes of Cancun; it would not help the poor and the vulnerable.
"We need a clear roadmap to a wider agreement. If that roadmap cannot be agreed here in Durban, we will not agree a second commitment period of Kyoto."
The US intervention suggests such a roadmap could yet be agreed, but with less than two days to go to the official close of the summit a large number of issues remain unresolved.
Most notably, the US, China and India appear unlikely to sign up to the new roadmap without further details on what an eventual treaty would look like when it is finalised in 2015.
Moreover, all the key players remain hugely divided on the crucial subject of how emissions reductions should be shared, with emerging economies continuing to argue that industrialised nations must shoulder more of the costs.
Isra-Mart srl: Water efficiency technologies to be included in Green Deal
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Businesses keen to invest in more energy efficient water systems look set to receive a boost, after the environment secretary today confirmed a range of hot water technologies could be included in the government's flagship energy efficiency Green Deal scheme.
Caroline Spelman said hot water efficiency measures, such as new efficient boilers, might be included in the Green Deal financing scheme which is due to launch next autumn.
The comments came as Spelman launched the government's delayed white paper setting out how it intends to improve water management across the UK.
"Making sure we've got enough water for everyone is going to be one of the major challenges this country will have to deal with in the years ahead," she said. "We can already see the problems we may face with part of Britain still in drought even though we're in December."
The White Paper outlines how the government plans to drive investment in new water infrastructure and encourage water efficiency among homes and businesses through new incentives and labelling systems.
In addition to revealing that hot water efficiency measures might be available through the Green Deal, the paper also confirms government plans to develop water efficiency guidelines designed to encourage greater uptake of water butts and dual flush toilets.
It also hinted that some of these water saving measures could be promoted to businesses and homeowners applying for Green Deal financing to undertake efficiency makeovers.
The paper sets out a wide-ranging package of reforms designed to extend competition among water companies and prevent steep increases in water bills.
Responding to questions from BusinessGreen, Spelman said businesses were increasingly considering water and energy efficiency in tandem and cited Defra research which found the UK economy could save £23bn by using resources more efficiently.
"As part of the greening of our economy an increasing number of businesses taking up new technological solutions to reduce their carbon footprint and their water footprint," she said.
"Water as a resource and energy as a resource are two commodies that businesses generally are reviewing their use of as part of their own resource efficiency."
Today's wide-ranging White Paper is a precursor to a draft Water Bill which will be presented for pre-legislative scrutiny in early 2012.
Spelman said government was keen for UK businesses to take advantage of the $300bn a year global market for water products and services.
She added that Defra will launch a £3.5m innovation competition in March 2012, seeking technologies which can recover 1,000 megaliters per day from surface water and ground water cycles.
"Part of what we need to do in order to grow our economy is support science and technology, research and development into these new green technologies because they are undoubtedly growth area and also exportable technologies," she said.
"The UK already has a lot of international leadership in terms of green technologies and our commitment to reduce our carbon footprint and be more resource efficient. And the opportunities for businesses to invest go hand-in-hand with delivering those objectives."
However, experts have suggested the changes will lead to increased water bills as water companies pass on the costs of upgrades and government compensation schemes that allow abstraction licences to be changed.
Alongside the white paper, the Environment Agency published research analysing the impact of climate change and population growth on water resources.
It found that by the 2050s, under a medium emissions scenario, short duration droughts of 12 to 18 months are likely to become more frequent. It added that as a result severe droughts like that experienced in 1976 could become more common, despite the increased resilience of public water supply and more winter storage.
Commenting on the water strategy Friends of the Earth's Nature Campaigner Paul de Zylva said a national water strategy was long overdue.
"Households, farmers and wildlife across the UK are being left high and dry by Ministers' failure to properly manage our precious water supplies," he said. "We can't keep lurching between floods, droughts and hose-pipe bans - a national water strategy is long overdue.
"Fast action is needed to cut water waste, tackle floods and prevent our rivers and wildlife being sucked dry."
Shadow Environment Secretary Mary Creagh insisted the government had to take more action to help reduce water bills.
"The Tories' botched water privatisation left South West residents facing the highest bills in the UK and we welcome the Government's offer of £50 a year off their bills," she said. "The 2.4 million households across the rest of the country who spend more than five per cent of their income on water need a more robust approach from government and the water companies to ensure water remains affordable to all."
Isra-Mart news:
Businesses keen to invest in more energy efficient water systems look set to receive a boost, after the environment secretary today confirmed a range of hot water technologies could be included in the government's flagship energy efficiency Green Deal scheme.
Caroline Spelman said hot water efficiency measures, such as new efficient boilers, might be included in the Green Deal financing scheme which is due to launch next autumn.
The comments came as Spelman launched the government's delayed white paper setting out how it intends to improve water management across the UK.
"Making sure we've got enough water for everyone is going to be one of the major challenges this country will have to deal with in the years ahead," she said. "We can already see the problems we may face with part of Britain still in drought even though we're in December."
The White Paper outlines how the government plans to drive investment in new water infrastructure and encourage water efficiency among homes and businesses through new incentives and labelling systems.
In addition to revealing that hot water efficiency measures might be available through the Green Deal, the paper also confirms government plans to develop water efficiency guidelines designed to encourage greater uptake of water butts and dual flush toilets.
It also hinted that some of these water saving measures could be promoted to businesses and homeowners applying for Green Deal financing to undertake efficiency makeovers.
The paper sets out a wide-ranging package of reforms designed to extend competition among water companies and prevent steep increases in water bills.
Responding to questions from BusinessGreen, Spelman said businesses were increasingly considering water and energy efficiency in tandem and cited Defra research which found the UK economy could save £23bn by using resources more efficiently.
"As part of the greening of our economy an increasing number of businesses taking up new technological solutions to reduce their carbon footprint and their water footprint," she said.
"Water as a resource and energy as a resource are two commodies that businesses generally are reviewing their use of as part of their own resource efficiency."
Today's wide-ranging White Paper is a precursor to a draft Water Bill which will be presented for pre-legislative scrutiny in early 2012.
Spelman said government was keen for UK businesses to take advantage of the $300bn a year global market for water products and services.
She added that Defra will launch a £3.5m innovation competition in March 2012, seeking technologies which can recover 1,000 megaliters per day from surface water and ground water cycles.
"Part of what we need to do in order to grow our economy is support science and technology, research and development into these new green technologies because they are undoubtedly growth area and also exportable technologies," she said.
"The UK already has a lot of international leadership in terms of green technologies and our commitment to reduce our carbon footprint and be more resource efficient. And the opportunities for businesses to invest go hand-in-hand with delivering those objectives."
However, experts have suggested the changes will lead to increased water bills as water companies pass on the costs of upgrades and government compensation schemes that allow abstraction licences to be changed.
Alongside the white paper, the Environment Agency published research analysing the impact of climate change and population growth on water resources.
It found that by the 2050s, under a medium emissions scenario, short duration droughts of 12 to 18 months are likely to become more frequent. It added that as a result severe droughts like that experienced in 1976 could become more common, despite the increased resilience of public water supply and more winter storage.
Commenting on the water strategy Friends of the Earth's Nature Campaigner Paul de Zylva said a national water strategy was long overdue.
"Households, farmers and wildlife across the UK are being left high and dry by Ministers' failure to properly manage our precious water supplies," he said. "We can't keep lurching between floods, droughts and hose-pipe bans - a national water strategy is long overdue.
"Fast action is needed to cut water waste, tackle floods and prevent our rivers and wildlife being sucked dry."
Shadow Environment Secretary Mary Creagh insisted the government had to take more action to help reduce water bills.
"The Tories' botched water privatisation left South West residents facing the highest bills in the UK and we welcome the Government's offer of £50 a year off their bills," she said. "The 2.4 million households across the rest of the country who spend more than five per cent of their income on water need a more robust approach from government and the water companies to ensure water remains affordable to all."
Isra-Mart srl: Durban inches towards deal on Green Fund, shipping, and CCS
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The negotiations on the future of the Kyoto Protocol may remain deadlocked, but a breakthrough could still be delivered on the promised $100bn-a-year Green Climate Fund.
According to reports, ministers are close to agreeing the framework for how the new fund would operate, funnelling billions of dollars to help poor nations cut emissions and adapt to inevitable climate change impacts.
Critics, including leading economist Lord Stern, have warned that the talks have focused almost entirely on how the fund would operate with little attention paid to how it will raise $100bn a year from 2020.
However, negotiators remain optimistic that once the framework for the new fund is in place it will become easier to agree on the mechanisms that can be used to raise the necessary finance.
Earlier in the week, it had been suggested that the US and Saudi Arabia were blocking a deal on the new fund, but in an encouraging development US lead negotiator Todd Stern told reporters yesterday that he had "a fair amount of confidence this is going to get done in a positive way".
In another encouraging sign, a bidding war is already under way to host the headquarters of the proposed fund with both Mexico and Germany putting themselves forward for consideration.
Senior diplomats said that any agreement on the new fund would represent a major breakthrough and could also have a knock-on effect on the wider negotiations given influential countries such as Brazil and China have made the launch of the fund a condition of their continuing negotiations on a future global climate treaty.
There was also speculation ministers could agree one of the mechanisms for raising capital for the new fund, with officials expressing optimism that they were close to a deal on some form of international levy on shipping and potentially even aviation emissions.
UK energy and climate change secretary Chris Huhne confirmed significant progress was being made, telling reporters that "we certainly think the aviation and shipping areas are the most likely areas to yield early dividends when it comes to funding finance".
Despite the concept being agreed in Copenhagen two years ago, financing the Green Fund when it comes into force in 2020 has remained a bone of contention, with cash-strapped countries arguing over the proportion of private and public funds.
But a document is circulating that would funnel the receipts of a tax per tonne on bunker fuel, simultaneously helping to tackle the three per cent of global emissions shipping contributes. It uses the same assumptions as a paper by Oxfam and WWF, which estimated a $25 tax, adding just 0.2 per cent to shipping costs, has the potential to generate $25bn a year in receipts by 2020.
Under the proposals, around $16bn a year would go to developing countries to offset the higher import costs that would result from the levy and $10bn would go to the Green Fund.
International Maritime Organisation (IMO) secretary-general Efthimios Mitropoulos told news agency Bloomberg yesterday that the UN body was considering the proposal, as well as alternative plans to establish an emissions-trading programme. He added that a decision on the measures could be made next year.
However, he did not specify what would be an appropriate levy and insisted any deal must apply globally.
"For this system to succeed, ships should comply with the same global standards all over the world," he said. "Were we to move to different standards for different ships you would have a major problem."
However, significant obstacles to a deal remain. The US is reportedly intent on stripping all mention of specific funding sources from the UN Green Fund document, while Australia has said UN bodies should deal with the problem of rising emissions.
"[Australia] supports multilateral discussions on this issue," a spokesman for climate change minister Greg Combet told the Australian newspaper. "There have been fruitful discussions in the International Maritime Organisation and the International Civil Aviation Organisation in recent months."
Any deal on aviation emissions is also likely to prove even more elusive than an agreement on shipping, with the EU currently battling with China and the US over its plans to impose emissions levies on airlines.
In related news, an agreement that could help accelerate investment in carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in developing countries will be submitted to delegations for final adoption on Friday.
Talks on bringing the technology into the UN's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) carbon offsetting scheme have been going on for the best part of a decade and at last year's Cancun summit participating countries agreed to allow it inclusion if a list of criteria were addressed and solved.
A draft decision obtained by Norwegian NGO Bellona states that CCS "is a relevant technology for the attainment of the ultimate goal of the Convention and may be part of a range of potential options for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions".
If adopted, CCS projects in developing countries could therefore sell carbon credits through the CDM scheme.
"COP 17 is looking good at this time to provide a milestone achievement for CCS that can remove much of the uncertainty of recent years on the capacity of the UNFCCC to support CCS-related (and therefore very large-scale) mitigation activities in developing countries," wrote Meade Harris, European regional representative for the Global CCS Institute, in a blog on the organisation's web site.
"Such a decision could also help enhance the ability of many national governments to put in place the appropriate frameworks that can give CCS projects their social licence."
Isra-Mart news:
The negotiations on the future of the Kyoto Protocol may remain deadlocked, but a breakthrough could still be delivered on the promised $100bn-a-year Green Climate Fund.
According to reports, ministers are close to agreeing the framework for how the new fund would operate, funnelling billions of dollars to help poor nations cut emissions and adapt to inevitable climate change impacts.
Critics, including leading economist Lord Stern, have warned that the talks have focused almost entirely on how the fund would operate with little attention paid to how it will raise $100bn a year from 2020.
However, negotiators remain optimistic that once the framework for the new fund is in place it will become easier to agree on the mechanisms that can be used to raise the necessary finance.
Earlier in the week, it had been suggested that the US and Saudi Arabia were blocking a deal on the new fund, but in an encouraging development US lead negotiator Todd Stern told reporters yesterday that he had "a fair amount of confidence this is going to get done in a positive way".
In another encouraging sign, a bidding war is already under way to host the headquarters of the proposed fund with both Mexico and Germany putting themselves forward for consideration.
Senior diplomats said that any agreement on the new fund would represent a major breakthrough and could also have a knock-on effect on the wider negotiations given influential countries such as Brazil and China have made the launch of the fund a condition of their continuing negotiations on a future global climate treaty.
There was also speculation ministers could agree one of the mechanisms for raising capital for the new fund, with officials expressing optimism that they were close to a deal on some form of international levy on shipping and potentially even aviation emissions.
UK energy and climate change secretary Chris Huhne confirmed significant progress was being made, telling reporters that "we certainly think the aviation and shipping areas are the most likely areas to yield early dividends when it comes to funding finance".
Despite the concept being agreed in Copenhagen two years ago, financing the Green Fund when it comes into force in 2020 has remained a bone of contention, with cash-strapped countries arguing over the proportion of private and public funds.
But a document is circulating that would funnel the receipts of a tax per tonne on bunker fuel, simultaneously helping to tackle the three per cent of global emissions shipping contributes. It uses the same assumptions as a paper by Oxfam and WWF, which estimated a $25 tax, adding just 0.2 per cent to shipping costs, has the potential to generate $25bn a year in receipts by 2020.
Under the proposals, around $16bn a year would go to developing countries to offset the higher import costs that would result from the levy and $10bn would go to the Green Fund.
International Maritime Organisation (IMO) secretary-general Efthimios Mitropoulos told news agency Bloomberg yesterday that the UN body was considering the proposal, as well as alternative plans to establish an emissions-trading programme. He added that a decision on the measures could be made next year.
However, he did not specify what would be an appropriate levy and insisted any deal must apply globally.
"For this system to succeed, ships should comply with the same global standards all over the world," he said. "Were we to move to different standards for different ships you would have a major problem."
However, significant obstacles to a deal remain. The US is reportedly intent on stripping all mention of specific funding sources from the UN Green Fund document, while Australia has said UN bodies should deal with the problem of rising emissions.
"[Australia] supports multilateral discussions on this issue," a spokesman for climate change minister Greg Combet told the Australian newspaper. "There have been fruitful discussions in the International Maritime Organisation and the International Civil Aviation Organisation in recent months."
Any deal on aviation emissions is also likely to prove even more elusive than an agreement on shipping, with the EU currently battling with China and the US over its plans to impose emissions levies on airlines.
In related news, an agreement that could help accelerate investment in carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in developing countries will be submitted to delegations for final adoption on Friday.
Talks on bringing the technology into the UN's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) carbon offsetting scheme have been going on for the best part of a decade and at last year's Cancun summit participating countries agreed to allow it inclusion if a list of criteria were addressed and solved.
A draft decision obtained by Norwegian NGO Bellona states that CCS "is a relevant technology for the attainment of the ultimate goal of the Convention and may be part of a range of potential options for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions".
If adopted, CCS projects in developing countries could therefore sell carbon credits through the CDM scheme.
"COP 17 is looking good at this time to provide a milestone achievement for CCS that can remove much of the uncertainty of recent years on the capacity of the UNFCCC to support CCS-related (and therefore very large-scale) mitigation activities in developing countries," wrote Meade Harris, European regional representative for the Global CCS Institute, in a blog on the organisation's web site.
"Such a decision could also help enhance the ability of many national governments to put in place the appropriate frameworks that can give CCS projects their social licence."
Isra-Mart srl: Senate bill aims to stop US airlines being pulled into EU emissions trading
www.isramart.com
Isra-Mart news:
A Republican senator introduced legislation yesterday that would attempt to stop the EU from forcing US airlines to purchase carbon allowances to cover emissions from flights in and out of the bloc.
The bill was put forward by South Carolinia Senator John Thune, but does not have a a Democratic co-sponsor so is unlikely to be passed in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
It follows a similar bill approved by the House of Representatives in October that would have effectively made it illegal for US airlines to participate in the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS). Thune said participating in the EU's emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) would cost airlines $3.1bn between 2012 and 2020 and put 40,000 jobs at risk.
"The idea that the European Union has the right to tax American air passengers and carriers flies in the face of our country's sovereignty," he said in a statement. "I reject this proposed European tax and will work with my colleagues in Congress and countless concerned stakeholders to block this tax."
Environmental campaigners have criticised the US opposition to a system they say could save around 183 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year by 2020 and urged politicians to work with the EU when representatives meet in Washington DC later today.
But Thune's bill was welcomed by trade organisation Airlines for America (A4A), formerly known as Air Transport Association of America.
"We commend Senator Thune for his leadership in joining the administration and his colleagues in the House of Representatives in opposing the application of the EU ETS to US airlines, as it is both illegal and bad policy," said A4A president and chief executive Nicholas Calio.
"Subjecting airlines to the EU's unilateral system will be counterproductive to helping the environment, result in the loss of US jobs, and hamper airlines' ability to invest in new aircraft and continue their extensive efforts to reduce their environmental impact."
The House and Senate bills are unlikely to make it into law given they would almost inevitably spark a huge trade war with the EU and would have a huge impact on the viability of transatlantic flights.
Various legal attempts to overturn the EU's plans have also faltered, with the European Court judgement recently ruling against a group of US carriers that argued the EU's plans are illegal under international aviation treaties.
As such airlines look set to be included in the ETS from January, obliging them to hold emission allowances to cover their emissions – a move that will add to the cost of flights in to and out of the bloc.
However, the Congressional action has cranked up the pressure on the Obama administration to secure exemptions for US airlines.
President Barack Obama "forcibly" made clear his opposition to European Commission president Barroso at a recent summit meeting, said Paul Gretch, director of the Office of International Aviation at the US Department of Transportation (DOT).
Gretch told the GreenAirOnline website that the US was "pro-environmental action" but that the EU was going about reducing emissions from the sector in the wrong way.
"I fear we're heading towards a trade war that airlines and the economy cannot afford," he said, adding that the scheme is "illegal" despite EU rulings to the contrary.
Isra-Mart news:
A Republican senator introduced legislation yesterday that would attempt to stop the EU from forcing US airlines to purchase carbon allowances to cover emissions from flights in and out of the bloc.
The bill was put forward by South Carolinia Senator John Thune, but does not have a a Democratic co-sponsor so is unlikely to be passed in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
It follows a similar bill approved by the House of Representatives in October that would have effectively made it illegal for US airlines to participate in the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS). Thune said participating in the EU's emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) would cost airlines $3.1bn between 2012 and 2020 and put 40,000 jobs at risk.
"The idea that the European Union has the right to tax American air passengers and carriers flies in the face of our country's sovereignty," he said in a statement. "I reject this proposed European tax and will work with my colleagues in Congress and countless concerned stakeholders to block this tax."
Environmental campaigners have criticised the US opposition to a system they say could save around 183 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year by 2020 and urged politicians to work with the EU when representatives meet in Washington DC later today.
But Thune's bill was welcomed by trade organisation Airlines for America (A4A), formerly known as Air Transport Association of America.
"We commend Senator Thune for his leadership in joining the administration and his colleagues in the House of Representatives in opposing the application of the EU ETS to US airlines, as it is both illegal and bad policy," said A4A president and chief executive Nicholas Calio.
"Subjecting airlines to the EU's unilateral system will be counterproductive to helping the environment, result in the loss of US jobs, and hamper airlines' ability to invest in new aircraft and continue their extensive efforts to reduce their environmental impact."
The House and Senate bills are unlikely to make it into law given they would almost inevitably spark a huge trade war with the EU and would have a huge impact on the viability of transatlantic flights.
Various legal attempts to overturn the EU's plans have also faltered, with the European Court judgement recently ruling against a group of US carriers that argued the EU's plans are illegal under international aviation treaties.
As such airlines look set to be included in the ETS from January, obliging them to hold emission allowances to cover their emissions – a move that will add to the cost of flights in to and out of the bloc.
However, the Congressional action has cranked up the pressure on the Obama administration to secure exemptions for US airlines.
President Barack Obama "forcibly" made clear his opposition to European Commission president Barroso at a recent summit meeting, said Paul Gretch, director of the Office of International Aviation at the US Department of Transportation (DOT).
Gretch told the GreenAirOnline website that the US was "pro-environmental action" but that the EU was going about reducing emissions from the sector in the wrong way.
"I fear we're heading towards a trade war that airlines and the economy cannot afford," he said, adding that the scheme is "illegal" despite EU rulings to the contrary.
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