Rene Tammist
Policy Advisor
S&D Secretariat, European Parliament. Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
said: On 08/04/2011
“Building a long term political strategy that mobilises support for low-carbon transition is as important as finding the right instruments to facilitate such transition. A successful strategy should take into account and manage public expectations, take advantage of windows of opportunity, offer bold visions, but also clear messages, build consensus and if necessary go beyond consensus.
Recent European Parliament Eurobarometer demonstrates that Europeans value as a first priority stability of energy prices (29% of the respondents), followed closely by renewable energy (27%) and security of energy supply (20%). The support for renewables has not faded away due to the economic recession as some commentators claim. However, the fact that the prime importance for the people is the price of energy, leads to a question, how to ensure a just transition towards a low-carbon economy in times of high, but at the same time volatile energy prices.
Between 50 to 120 million Europeans are confronted with energy poverty on a daily basis, the number stretching to 1, 6 billion globally. That is one out of four people on the planet are energy poor. This means that they do not have access or they cannot afford to serve their basic energy needs for lighting, domestic heating or cooling and cooking.
The transition towards a low carbon society threatens with potentially regressive measures that penalise the most vulnerable in our societies. The tools used to steer this transition, such as shifting the taxation towards carbon emissions, or using market based tools like emissions trading are intrinsically regressive. Furthermore, the effects of the climate change such as the damage to the environment and ecosystems according to current scientific knowledge will disproportionally fall upon some of the poorest regions in the world.
This calls for a set of policy measures, which facilitate both the access and affordability of energy. The most obvious means to achieve this end is through high levels of energy efficiency, for instance in buildings and appliance, as well as targeted social policy measures. Unfortunately, at current the EU and its Member States fall short of its 2020 energy efficiency targets, and measures put forward by the Commission are so far not very assuring.
Furthermore, the effects on the labour market, which will result from the energy transformation, must be anticipated and therefore, training must be provided for workers in carbon intensive energy sectors. Focus on the protection of consumers’ rights and setting right policy framework which will facilitate the consumers switching to more sustainable products, to reduce their energy use, and opt for renewable energy, is a must.
Finally, the global community has to assume its responsibility in alleviating energy poverty. The UN Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change has called for the adoption of a goal of universal access to modern energy services by 2030, a goal to which I fully subscribe, but that has to be backed up by credible financing.”
Avaldatud Economisti ja Euronewsi webikeskkonnas comment:vision 08.04.2011 http://www.commentvisions.com/
