STRASBOURG, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The European Parliament, after debating the United States withdrawal from the Paris agreement, adopted a resolution Wednesday in Strasbourg to reinforce the European Union (EU) commitment to the climate deal with plans for new carbon reduction rules, and criticized American backpedaling.
The proposed new legislation, referred to as the Effort Sharing Regulation, would help ensure the EU's overall targets for 2030 on all policies -- cutting 40 percent from 1990 levels -- by setting new compulsory greenhouse gas emission reductions on the national level, and creating incentives for early action.
Adopted by an overwhelming 534 votes to 88, with 56 abstentions, the new rules will allow EU-level targets to be broken into binding, national ones for sectors which are not covered by the EU carbon market -- such as agriculture, transport, construction and waste, which together account for nearly 60 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe.
Individual EU member states will be required to follow an "emissions reduction pathway," which will be calculated based on individual 2018 levels, rather than those of 2020 proposed by the European Commission, in order to avoid last minute increases in emissions designed to make it easier to hit targets.
Members of European Parliament (MEPs) also set a target of 2050 for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent compared to 2005 levels, in order to ensure long-term predictability. In addition, member states with GDP per capita below the EU average will be rewarded for early action if they take action before 2020 with more flexibility later in the scheme. The regulations will allow member states the flexibility of "borrowing" up to 10 percent of the following year's emissions allowance.
During a debate that preceded the Wednesday vote in Strasbourg, President of the Marshall Islands, Hilda Heine warned: "We are all vulnerable to climate impacts, no one can escape," as she asked MEPs to take strong action on climate change.
"Unless the world keeps its promise to pursue efforts to limit global temperature rises to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, my country and others will risk being completely uninhabitable before the century's end," said the president of the Marshall Islands, which are only 2 meter above sea level on average and under threat from rising ocean levels.
President Antonio Tajani of the European Parliament restated the EU's commitment to the Paris Climate deal, saying, "We, the Europeans, will not miss the opportunity that the Paris agreement represents for our citizens, for our planet, for our economy." "Our longstanding commitment and determination to lead global action on climate change must not relent," he said.
The debate, which focused on the decision by United States President Donald Trump to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, joining only two countries who have not signed the deal: Syria and Nicaragua, the latter boycotting the agreement for being not ambitious enough. Donald Trump, in his withdrawal announcement at the beginning of June, said that the climate deal was bad for American businesses, and proposed to renegotiate for more favorable terms.
In Wednesday's debate, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker reiterated to the Strasbourg hemicycle that no renegotiation was possible. "We have spent 20 years negotiating, now is the time for implementation," the Commission president said after being interrupted by applause from MEPs.
"We have the chance to turn Trump's decision into an opportunity for Europe. We not only can, but also want to take the lead in protecting our climate - our future depends on it," said Peter Liese (European People's Party, Germany), after the successful vote. "We should stay ambitious, strive towards Paris targets, but remain realistic at the same time."
Vice-President on sustainability for the European Socialists, MEP Kathleen Van Brempt, argued that even with Donald Trump's reverse on climate action, many American cities and states were taking action and that they needed to be heard. "We Europeans should seize the opportunity to work with progressive cities, regions and countries all around the world to build strong alliances with ambitious climate goals. We want the EU to be a climate leader and the effort sharing legislation voted today shows that we remain committed to forcefully tackling climate change," she said.
A press release from the European Greens warned that the EU needed to go beyond criticizing Donald Trump and take even more ambitious action. "The reduction targets agreed today will go some way towards curbing emissions in the EU. But make no mistake, they are not strong enough to honor the commitments made in the Paris Agreement," said the Greens climate spokesperson Bas Eickhout (Netherlands), while co-President of the political group Ska Keller (Germany) said, "We in the EU have a huge responsibility, not just because we are the third biggest polluter of CO2 worldwide, but because we have the technologies and the power to tackle our emissions. We Greens will not stop fighting for an ambitious climate policy, to lead the fight against climate change and to deliver good jobs with real future prospects."
Since the vast majority of European legislation is co-adopted by the European Parliament and the European Council, MEPs have opened negotiations with the Council on the proposed new rules with the goal of reaching a first reading agreement. Informal negotiations will start once the Council has reached a position.
