PES Manifesto

manifesto2009 barometer: Save our planet II

Published Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 09:36
by Editor (1294 views and 0 comments)

Last months, participants agreed on the need for a radical shift both on the production and the consumption side. The whole exploitation and processing of resources must be rethought.

Setting standards for measuring the risk of a pollutant manufacturing process or use of a product was proposed by several manifesto supporters. Another alternative is the use of a 'climate label’ for products which are, for example, produced in climate neutral and using energy efficient processes.

We need to change our consumer habits. According to Carlo Petrini, President of Slow Food, agricultural products should be produced and consumed locally in order to respect the needs of the farmers and the environment.

For MEP Ǻsa Westlund, talking during the seminar “Leading the fight against climate change: a new European green growth agenda”, there is a need to provide people with the right incentives and opportunities, making for them easier to notice the results. In this respect, local and regional governments will have a major role to play.

Renewables
As pointed out by the European Energy association, renewables, combined with more ambitious energy efficiency measures, are the only way for Europe to turn the energy and climate crisis into an opportunity to benefit the welfare of our citizens. Europe has enormously rich renewable energy resources, and European industries are world leaders at turning those resources into energy. There is an opportunity for Europe to take the lead in redefining the rules of the future energy game.

Nuclear

Several participants agreed on the need to change our energy sources as we can expect fossil fuels to increase ten times more than today. However, some were against investing in nuclear power plants, holding that reduction of energy consumption and renewables remain the best option, while others believe that it is necessary a compromise of all energy sources, including nuclear.

Public Transport

Traffic is excluded from Kyoto protocol, but it still produces 20 percent of all CO2 emissions. Therefore, we need to invest in public transportation, in international railroads and in better traffic infrastructure. In this respect, a successful example of what can be done at local level, is the congestion charge introduced in London or the “Metrolink” project in Manchester Region, namely vehicles running on both ‘traditional’, heavy rail lines and tram tracks, in order to solve the congestion problem. The Flying sector should also be regulated as is definitely the most polluting way of traffic and yet it’s still cheaper than ever before.

Combating Climate Change is a matter of survival

Several bloggers recognised the impact of climate change on our health. To reduce the incidence diseases related to climate-change, we should take the following actions:

· Stimulating research and promote environmentally friendly technology within European industries.

· Planting more forests and ensuring more open spaces

· Ensuring high-quality health-care system which secures citizens good and healthy lives from childhood to pension age

Beyond Europe

If Europe is quite confident that they will move all together in the same direction, what about the others? Climate change is a global issue but developed countries bear most of the responsibility. Therefore OECD countries have to help developing countries to decouple economic growth from greenhouse emissions and adapt to climate change phenomena. As highlighted in the WWF debate “EU Climate action : Do 30% NOW!” on 6 May 2008, hosted by Socialist MEP Linda McAvan, there are different possible approaches to prevent carbon leakage coming from other countries such as a “carbon tax” on imports or conditional allocations to industries. However, the better approach seems to be sectoral agreements, cooperation with other countries in specific sectors.

Food crises

The ever increasing use of cereals for biofuel production raises concerns over the impact on food prices and the world’s food stocks. Some participants pointed out that not only biofuels but also financial speculation on commodities have to be blamed for the food crisis. It is therefore urgent:

· to seek and obtain a moratorium on biofuels

· to rethink agricultural policy to help preserve food crops

· to reform our consumption patterns

· to limit speculation on food commodities

Tags: activists, barometer, energy, environment, transport