Duitsland, Frankrijk en het Verenigd Koninkrijk pleiten voor 30% minder CO2-uitstoot in 2020 in de EU (en)
Ministers from three of Europe's largest countries have called on the EU to make a unilateral move towards cutting carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2020, rather than the current target of 20 percent.
The move, which marks a dramatic u-turn on previous positions, is vital to prevent Europe losing out in the race to develop low-carbon technologies, British energy minister Chris Huhne, German environment minister Norbert Roettgen and French ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said in an opinion piece in the Financial Times on Thursday (15 July).
"If we stick to a 20 percent cut, Europe is likely to lose the race to compete in the low-carbon world to countries such as China, Japan or the US," wrote the three ministers.
While Europe currently enjoys a leading position in the low-carbon goods and services sector, recent research shows China has leapt ahead in green technology investment, attracting $40.3 billion of asset finance for clean energy in the past year, roughly $10 billion more than the EU.
The call for a unilateral jump to a 30 percent cut on 1990 levels is likely to anger European businesses however, with a European Commission paper in May on the subject attracting harsh criticism.
Brussels argued that the economic recession would make the greater cut significantly cheaper than previously thought, but fierce lobbying from businesses and certain EU states resulted in the document's language being watered down.
While making the case for the larger cut, EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard said present "conditions are not right" due to Europe's economic difficulties.
In their opinion piece on Thursday however, the three ministers say there is a compelling economic argument for the 30 percent cut, with failure to move now likely to lead to greater costs in the future.
"The current target of a 20 percent reduction now seems insufficient to drive the low-carbon transition," they said. "The recession by itself has cut emissions in the EU's traded sector by 11 per cent from pre-crisis levels."
The greater reduction "is a policy for jobs and growth, energy security and climate risk," they add.
Previously in UN climate talks, the EU has declared its willingness to make the jump to 30 percent only if other other countries around the world take similar steps, a development that did not materialise in Copenhagen last December.
Germany has been among the strongest opponents to a unilateral EU move, stressing that the jump should only be made in the context of a wider international agreement.
France has also shown resistance in the past, with the debate now likely to be thrown wide open again ahead of international talks on global warming in December in Cancun, Mexico.