EU in the Media

Washington Delegation Press Room

Open Forum

EU can offer U.S. ideas on climate change

John Bruton


San Francisco Chronicle, Wednesday, February 28, 2007, page B-9

As the European Union's ambassador to the United States, I have been very vocal in alerting this country to the looming disaster of global warming. With mounting, irrefutable evidence, Americans are finally coming to heed the danger signs and are beginning to listen. Europe has cheered as California and like-minded states have taken steps to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, but these efforts should really only be the beginning.

We Europeans have seen and felt the changes caused by global warming for some time now in Europe. Glaciers in eight of our nine glacial regions are at their lowest levels in 5,000 years. A heat wave killed more than 25,000 people in 2003. And the number of floods has increased fourfold on our continent from 1950 to 2000. Americans, likewise, recently have suffered major droughts, devastating storms such as Hurricane Katrina and record-high temperatures.

No wonder that an October 2006 survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs found that 43 percent of Americans believe global warming is a serious and pressing problem, and that steps should be taken, even if the costs are high.

American energy companies, many of them having been in denial about global warming, are coming around to face the facts. Exxon Mobil Corp. announced in September that it may stop funding a think tank that has sought to cast doubts on climate change and that it will contribute more than $1.25 million to a European Union study on how to store carbon dioxide in natural gas fields. As the United States begins to wake up to the harsh realities of global warming, the European Union stands ready to assist with the knowledge and expertise European nations and industry have gained over the years. Since the early 1990s, the European Union and its 27- member states have worked to slow the rate of global warming. Many of the policies recently adopted in California, such as caps on greenhouse-gas emissions and market-based programs to reduce greenhouse gases, have already been tried and tested in Europe.

The European Union keeps working to develop new policies and systems as the region continually seeks to limit greenhouse-gas emissions and reverse the alarming rise in global temperatures. Since 2000, the European Union has launched more than 30 initiatives to address climate change, including research on energy efficiency and renewable energy sources such as wind, sun, water and waste. The 15 nations that were EU-member states when the Kyoto protocol was signed in 1997 are on track to meet, as a joint commitment, the EU's 8 percent reduction target of greenhouse gases by 2010 compared to 1990 levels. This, while keeping our economy growing.

The European Union and the United States were at similar greenhouse-gas emission levels in 1990, but between 1990 and 2004, the EU economy grew by 32 percent and the greenhouse gas emissions went down by almost 1 percent compared to 1990 levels. By contrast, the U.S. economy grew by 52.6 percent between 1990 and 2004, but its emissions grew by 15.8 percent and are projected to increase to 32.4 percent above 1990 levels by 2010.

The 27 nations of the EU aim to reduce emissions further by at least 20 percent collectively by 2020 and are also committed to significantly reducing energy consumption while increasing energy efficiency. The EU today accounts for 14 percent of the world's greenhouse-gas emissions, but intends to reduce that figure to around 8 percent by 2050.

The European Union continues to reach out beyond the European borders because it will take the cooperation of the entire world to make a difference. The EU is ready to discuss a new international agreement, which must include the United States, to cut 30 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions from developed countries by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. Developing countries such as China and India must also be helped to put in place energy efficient technologies to slow their growth in emissions.

We are working against the clock here. The most comprehensive review to date of the economics of climate change, "The Nicholas Stern Review," concluded in October that the earlier decisive action is taken, the less costly it will be. The review noted that if climate change continues unchecked over the next nine decades, the consequences of global warming will cost more than World War I, World War II and the Great Depression combined. Global warming is a global problem, and as such, our efforts will be worthless if any one nation takes a pass.

As the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, the United States must be an active and engaged partner. California is certainly showing the way, and the European Union will continue to actively engage and support your state. As California takes the lead, it is my hope the rest of the country will follow.

John Bruton is the EU ambassador to the United States.

This article appeared on page B - 9 of the San Francisco Chronicle