Kandidaat-eurocommissaris voor klimaat wil EU klimaatvriendelijkste regio maken (en)

In five years from now, "I would like to see a Europe that is the most climate-friendly region in the world" said climate change Commissioner-designate Connie Hedegaard at her three-hour hearing on Friday.

Members of the Environment, Industry and Transport committees quizzed Hedegaard on the Copenhage climate change conference results, her climate protection strategies and nuclear energy. If approved, Hedegaard would become EU's first climate change Commissioner.

Ms Hedegaard was disappointed that the Copenhagen conference had not delivered binding targets, but stressed that "a lot has changed in the last few years" and that the EU "had played a tremendously important role in paving the way for change". 

Much of the climate legislation needed in the EU, e.g. on energy efficiency and CO2 emission reductions, is already in place and "must now be implemented properly", she said, adding that transport and agricultural policies also need to be made more climate-friendly: "We must mainstream climate into all relevant policy areas".