Thursday, November 29, 2007

PES Council: It's time to act

PES Council: It's time to act
Published Thursday, November 22, 2007 at 18:00
by Editor in Save our planet (75 views and 0 comments)
Who should lead the fight against climate change, if not Europe’s socialists and social democrats?
This question, posed by Stephan Singer, of WWF European Climate and Energy Policy Unit, was answered by speakers and delegates at the PES Council today. They want to turn the planetary emergency into a global opportunity. The PES adopted a resolution which offers a roadmap for combating global warming.
Speakers in the debate underlined that we know enough about the threat, and we already have many of the solutions. “It’s time to act”, said Linda McAvan, Vice-President of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament. To keep the rise in average global temperatures below 2°C, the PES calls for binding targets for the reduction of green house gas emissions in all industrialised countries and for the limitation of CO2 emission increases in emerging economies. The aim for 2050 is a reduction of global CO2 emissions by at least 50%. This is only possible with effective global, regional and national policies and an effective system international emissions trading system.
New, sustainable energy resources are the key for a low carbon economy. This requires massive investment in research, development and innovation, not least in Europe, as well as a global partnership to help developing economies get eh latest green technology to fight climate change and to cope with climate changes. Without our solidarity poorer countries cannot shoulder the rising costs of fighting and coping with climate change
A roundtable debate on the ‘Save our planet’ manifesto theme concluded the first day of PES Council. Hans Eichel, chair of the PES Lisbon Network, and Herbert Schmalstieg, President of the Union of Socialist Local and Regional Representatives in Europe, discussed what they believed were essential elements of the PES manifesto for the European elections in 2009: an effective green growth policy, citizens’ involvement, sustainable energy resources, smarter forms of urban transport, and a truly European framework for climate change policies.Watch the entire plenary debate and view more photos from the PES Council here.
Tags: citizens, council, environment, global warming, green growth

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