I came across three interesting reports this week: Richard Heinberg reports on the Global Public Media blog that the German Energy Watch group is about to publish a very worrying report on the future of coal world coal reserves. According the the energy experts of the group, global coal reserves are much smaller than generally… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
23 March, 2007
Commission President Barroso clearly has a good doctor who helped him shake off his climate change fever as quickly as you and I can say “European emissions trading scheme”. In an article in the British Telegraph yesterday, Barroso is said to have taken the side of all these innocent citizens who might become victim to… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
21 March, 2007
“The best way to deal with gas issues, is that these should be based on free-market conditions” was the non-answer an EU commission spokesperson provided when I asked clarification yesterday on new media stories that major gas producers are likely to set up an OPEC-like gas-cartel on 9 April in Doha, Qatar. It seems the… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
18 March, 2007
The fifth European Business Summit, held from 15-16 March in Brussels, showed EU business leaders in an optimistic mood about the Union’s economic upturn but worried and confused about climate change. After 5 years of gloom and doom about the loss of competitiveness and economic growth, there was a much more upbeat atmosphere amongst the… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
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Climate change, energy security, Peak oil, resource depletion |
13 March, 2007
The EU’s emissions trading scheme (ETS), the center piece of the EU’s climate change strategy, is hailed by decision makers as the most cost-effective market-based solution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But the ETS 1.0 has clearly shown its weaknesses and therefore the Commission is preparing ETS 2.0. But if it is true that climate… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
For environmentalists, UK politics these days looks like the famous Grimm fairy tale as the Labour Party and the Tory Conservatives are battling it out to be the greenest political formation of the country. In all that maneuvering, one could forget that there is a third (Lib Dems) and even a fourth (Greens) party for… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
11 March, 2007
The EU’s political leaders used big words such as “historic” after their 2007 Spring Summit. Are they correct? Has the EU tanker made a new turn which will gradually allow it to win back the trust of its citizens? As always, trying to evaluate the outcome of such summits is like gauging whether the glass… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
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Climate change, energy security, European Union, Low-carbon economy |
In The Guardian’s Comment is Free, Friends of the Earth Director Tony Juniper urges EU leaders to set the right example by promising to cut greenhouse gases by 30% during their Spring Summit. If the EU leads, “the rest will follow” is Juniper’s headline. Wishful thinking? Professor Ross B. Emmett of Michigan State University has… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
8 March, 2007
In war, countries always seem to find a leader who mixes vision with courage to mobilise populations to overcome even the worst disasters. So where is the next-generation leader able to take global leadership on the way to the new low-carbon economy? It is surely not any one of the current European heads of state… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
5 March, 2007
EU Commission President Barroso probably needs to be better briefed about the financial turmoil on the global stock markets. It seemed like he had no cue when he answered my question today in a press conference on the progress of the Lisbon reform programme. “Alll is well with the world”, seemed to be what he… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
