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BIOFORE

Shin We Ng

Marco Mensink

TAUSTAN KORJAUS

“There are still several legislative

barriers to ratification of the Climate

Convention in the US. However, several

countries have become more favour-

able towards the agreement since the

Copenhagenmeeting, which is why

I believe that the Paris meeting will

be a turning point for the interna-

tional climate agreement,” says

Liz

Gallagher

, EG3’s climate diplomacy

expert.

Improved EU legislation

The key tools of the 2030 climate and

energy package ratified by the EU are

the emission trading system, the 27%

renewable energy source objective and

increased energy e“ciency.

Marco Mensink

, Director

General of CEPI, the Confederation of

European Paper Industries, says the

new package better takes into account

the concerns of European industries

regarding the impact of climate policy

on their competitive edge.

“The agreement includes a clause

that continues free emission allow-

ances to energy-intensive industries to

prevent carbon leakage until the other

leading economies start to apply similar

systems to their own companies.”

Mensink says that this is a very

important clause in terms of future

investments. European politicians must

make sure that industries will manage

with the increased costs brought on

by climate policy in the short term

so that they will be able to reach goals

in the long term.

“We want to make the EU legisla-

tionmore easily foreseeable, because

if companies are unable to make new

investments, they will not reach the

organisation E3G says that China

is investing in zero emission energy

production, nuclear power, renew-

able energy sources and gas

while also building new

coal-fired power plants.

“I don’t believe that

China is ready to formally

commit to the interna-

tional process; instead,

it focuses on trying to stop

the pollution of its own water-

ways, soil and air. China’s internal

status also plays a role in the process:

China started a major financial reform

last year. If the process goes as planned,

China’s input in the international

climate negotiations may be more

significant.”

The status in the US has also experi-

enced a major change. The utilisation

of shale gas, in particular, will reduce

the need to use coal, which will in turn

reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The US announced in the agreement

with China the intention to achieve

an economy-wide target of reducing

its emissions by 26%–28% below its

2005 level in 2025.

”We want to make the EU legislation more easily

foreseeable, because if companies are unable

to make new investments, they will not reach the

emission reductions needed to meet the political

goals. National economies will not grow either

if they are not attractive enough to businesses.”

–Marco Mensink