天美传媒

The European Union is facing a challenge with few historic precedents: full decarbonization of its economy by 2050. To get there, all member states will have to step up efforts to cut emissions, and even then it鈥檚 not clear that global emissions will be significantly lower.

鈥淓urope is small, especially in terms of the impact of its emissions policies,鈥� Ignacio P茅rez Arriaga, BP Chair of Sustainable Development at the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, said during the second Energy Prospectives seminar, organized by 天美传媒 and the Fundaci贸n Naturgy.

鈥淎t the end of the day, it only accounts for 10% of world CO2 emissions and couldn鈥檛, even with the most drastic and successful measures, beat climate change if the U.S., China and the emerging economies do not make similar efforts. Thus, its persuasive powers will be even more decisive than its sacrifices.鈥�

The seminar also featured Christopher Jones, a strong proponent from the European Commission of the 20/20/20 agenda for emissions reductions and current senior advisor for Baker McKenzie in Brussels, and professor Javier D铆az-Gim茅nez.

The experts agreed that the EU鈥檚 emissions objectives are daunting and, at the same time, unavoidable. The EU must lead by example, open the way and engage with future generations by leaving them a cleaner and more stable planet. However, it will not achieve this if it does not bear these three keys in mind:

1. Stable (and demanding) policies. 鈥淓nergy policy has to be a state policy, without sudden shifts,鈥� P茅rez Arriaga said. He said governments must introduce incentives to reward consumers, investors and energy companies for committing to renewables. They should also set specific goals and measures to reach them, Jones said. 鈥淭he European Commission should be able to warn and sanction countries that stray from the path,鈥� Jones added.

2. Realistic ambitions. Decarbonization will be neither easy nor universally popular, the experts noted. Jones said many forecasts on emissions reductions are overly optimistic because, among other things, they assign a heroic role to nuclear power. They also exaggerate the effects of efficiencies that are almost impossible to reach without such drastic measures as prohibiting the sale of homes that cannot certify their decarbonization.

鈥淭his doesn鈥檛 mean that we shouldn鈥檛 insist on the fight against climate change, but rather that it will have to be done by taking complex and unpopular decisions that will need to be correctly explained to those affected and sometimes be accompanied by subsidies,鈥� Jones said.

3. Global vision. Jones said decarbonization requires major spending on research into the development of batteries and storage systems, on interconnecting markets and on large infrastructure projects. Furthermore, he added that it is essential to allow markets to play an important role as the drivers of renewable energies. 鈥淎ll the measures taken should take into account the relationship between the costs and benefits, their impact on the competitiveness of companies and the potential creation of employment,鈥� Jones said.