56 Amendments of Rebecca HARMS related to 2008/2015(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Is deeply concerned about the fact that many recent scientific reports indicate that climate change is both more rapid and serious in terms of its adverse effects than previously thought; therefore calls on the Commission and the Council to analyse as a matter of urgency the question whether the overall target fixed hitherto for European climate policy, namely to stay below a 2°C increase, is cautious enough to meet the UNFCC objective of preventing anthropogenic interference with the climate system;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Stresses that human society is facing a dual challenge as regards the earth's life- supporting system: climate change and the overuse and destruction of many of the most important ecosystems; stresses the many interlinkages between the climate system and ecosystems – in particular the capacity of oceans and terrestrial ecosystems to sequester carbon – and underlines that climate change can only be addressed effectively within the context of healthy ecosystems;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recalls in particular the essential objectives in combating climate change and stresses the importance of setting a clear medium-term target of a 20%-30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, and a long-term reduction target of 50%- 80% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels for the EU and other industrialised countries, in order to achieve a 50% probability of restricting the increase in average global temperature to 2°C over pre-industrial levels;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Stresses that nearly half of the world’s population is under the age of 25 and that today’s decisions on climate policy will have far-reaching consequences for the largest generation of young people in human history; calls specifically on planners and designers to integrate children’s specific needs into housing, transport, schools, health and other infrastructure in the context of climate change;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading after paragraph 8 (new)
Subheading after paragraph 8 (new)
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (after subheading 'Human Impact')(new)
Paragraph 8 a (after subheading 'Human Impact')(new)
8a. Calls on the Commission to initiate a EU strategy for the accommodation of populations forced to move due to the impacts of climate change and of the protection of their rights;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. Calls for the creation of an international fund to assist in the management of climate-induced migrations and for further scientific assessment within the IPPC on displacement of populations due to climate change;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses that the new climate change agreement should come into being under the auspices of the UN and on the principle of a 'sharedcommon but differentiated responsibility', with the countries of the industrialised world mtaking a clear contribution to emission reductions while the developing countries also commit themselves to climate measures within the limits of their capabilitthe lead in reducing their domestic emissions at least within the IPCC range of 25%-40% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels while the developing countries also achieve substantial deviations from their business as usual baselines, with measurable, reportable and verifiable support for capacity building, and financial and technological transfers from industrialised countries;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Stresses that emerging initiatives designed to finance and support the response to climate change must be formally linked to the UNFCCC process and to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, in order to ensure that additional support for measures to address climate change is fully integrated with development support so that measures to tackle multiple development challenges and climate change are mutually supportive; stresses, however, that the bulk of mitigation and adaptation costs in developing countries should not be met by official development aid, but that additional resources need to be mobilised to help developing countries to tackle the climate change challenge;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Calls on the EU and its Member States to enter into climate partnerships with target countries which permit it to overcome barriers to successful technology transfer and to devise solutions tailored to take account of issues concerning the protection of intellectual property,overcome barriers to successful technology transfer to third countries involving matters such as intellectual property rights, while taking into account the state of technological development, institutional stability and available human and financial resources in the target country;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls on the Commission, the Presidents-in-Office and the Member States to adopt, at bilateral level in the negotiations towards a post-2012 agreement, a mediating role between the positions of the industrialised countries, the G5 and the developing countries, in order to ensure by means of a balance of interest the success of the climate negotiations involving all major greenhouse gas emitters, in order to ensure the success of the climate negotiations aimed at achieving the 2ºC goal;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Calls on the EU to create a European renewable energy community to promote further research and pilot projects in this field as well as the development of the grid so as to allow for the optimal integration of renewable energy resources;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Calls on the EU and its Member States to secure a transitional phase in the energy mix, influenced by politicians and led by entrepreneurs, a period in whichto increase the ushare of renewable energy sources gradually supplements and subsequent, rapidly replacesing the use of fossil fuels, by means of active support from the public authorities in the Member States and at EU level;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Proposes solar energy partnerships with third countries in the Mediterranean region as building blocks of a European external energy policy, representing the basis for electricity and hydrogen production and thus for the switch to a low-carbon, hydrogenrenewables-based economy;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Stresses the considerable potential of the use of sustainably produced biomass for energy production with a view to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and calls for a European strategy for the exploitation of biomass for heating and cooling while respecting the 'food first' principle;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Suggests that the Commission rethink the notion of aabandon the fixed quota for biofuels and instead develop flexible scenarios which take account not only of the growing worldwide need for agricultural land for food and feedstuffs but also of the question of the need to import biofuels into the EU, with a view to meeting the requirements of individual mobility and goods transport in future;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Considers it essential to involve the developing countries in a long-term strategy for the development and production of biofuels, in order to examine the possibility of their economic planning and profitability, to answer the question of their environmental sustainability, to secure the sufficient production of food and not least to permit social developments and lasting increase in earnings;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Calls on the Commission to reconsider the non-binding nature of the 20% goal for energy efficiency by 2020 and if necessary to propose to the Council that this targetsubmit a legislative proposal to Parliament and the Council that the 20% goal for energy efficiency by 2020 be made binding;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Calls for a broad, locally-based public information campaign to improve decentralised energy efficiency, withoffering free, impartial and wide-ranging energy services to house and flat owners beincluding provideding them with thermal images and energy performance information for their properties, as well as with recommendations for financing possible modernisation work, along the lines of micro-credits;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
38. Proposes, as an incentive system for the modernisation of rented property, the reduction of tax rates on rental income in line with investment costin renewable heating and electricity systems as well as efficiency gains;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
Paragraph 40
40. Calls on the Commission to adjust the energy efficiency requirements for electrical and electronic equipment of all kinds to market developments at least every five years following the top runner principle, to update existing labelling programmes or efficiency classifications and thus to prevent the consumer from being given inaccurate information;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40 a (new)
Paragraph 40 a (new)
40a. Calls on the Commission to set stringent EU targets and establish integrated industrial policies designed to ensure market access and the uptake of energy efficient technologies, including the development of common technological objectives (such as passive houses), greater use of integrated policy strategies such as lead markets and green public procurement, and supporting regulation in respect of product design and minimum standards;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53
Paragraph 53
53. Calls on the Member States and local authorities, by means of pricing measures and other incentives, to promote a modal shift from cars to local public transport and from road to rail, and by substantial investments in the necessary infrastructure to massively expand and improve the overall service and make it more attractive, making public transport more attractive; in the intermediate period, calls for improvements in the integration of private/individual transportation with public/collective transport systems;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 62 a (new)
Paragraph 62 a (new)
Amendment 209 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 70 a (new)
Paragraph 70 a (new)
70a. Calls for the inclusion of workplace climate change audits in company reporting standards to enhance transparency in the monitoring of greening policies and emissions reductions;
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 71
Paragraph 71
71. Calls for the rejection ofSupports the fundamental principle of 100% auctioning of allowances; takes the view that free allocation up to a limit value (benchmark) set on the basis of the best available technology is more useful, since this the only way to ensure that a sufficient stock of capital remains in the company to enable it to make the necessary investments in increasing efficiency in the EU emissions trading system, in accordance with the Commission’s proposal and the votes of the responsible committees of the European Parliament;
Amendment 219 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 72
Paragraph 72
72. Proposes, with a view to restricting the number of CDM / JI projects, that replacing domestic action, that instead of allowing CDM to offset domestic reduction efforts, country- specific quotas be imposed rather than a general limit valuefor Member States to contribute to emissions reductions in developing countries; calls on the Secretariat of the Framework Convention on Climate Change to propose more stringent criteria for the approval of CDM/JI in the context of the negotiations towards a post-2012 agreement;
Amendment 232 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 77
Paragraph 77
Amendment 247 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 84 a (new)
Paragraph 84 a (new)
84a. Considers that a switch from intensive livestock production to extensive sustainable systems should be encouraged as such systems require a lower use of cereals and soya as animal feed and so entail reduced energy input and emissions;
Amendment 253 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 85 a (new)
Paragraph 85 a (new)
85a. Calls for any mitigation measures in the livestock sector to be subject to an animal health and welfare impact assessment and for such measures not to be introduced if there are any adverse effects on the animals concerned;
Amendment 259 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 89
Paragraph 89
89. Considers that a compensation scheme must to some extent include CDM projects; calls, in the context of a global CO2 market, for those countries that still have large areas of natural forest to be given particular economic incentives to preserve its commercial valuethem; suggests that we look at whether it makes sense in this connection, to focus solely on tropical rainforests;
Amendment 298 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 111
Paragraph 111
Amendment 313 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 115 a (new)
Paragraph 115 a (new)
115a. Stresses the coordinating role of the EU and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in providing advice to the general public on avoiding insect borne diseases;
Amendment 324 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 120 a (new)
Paragraph 120 a (new)
120a. Calls for the establishment of a consultative committee on EU climate change policy, which will include the social partners, to allow greater participation in the development of policies to tackle climate change;
Amendment 326 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 121
Paragraph 121
121. Invites the social partners and the two sides of industry in the Member States and at EU level to develop common economic strategies for each sector, so as to identify and strategically exploit potential where it exists;
Amendment 332 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 125
Paragraph 125
125. Calls for the establishment of a European Climate Fund or corresponding funds in the Member States, to be financed by the proceeds of ETS auctions, and regards this as a way of creating a capital stock to fund a future climate policy, given that there are limits on how far one can plan now for the individual measures of that policy and the investment they will require; furthermore, considers that the solidarity principle, both between generations and between vulnerable and wealthy people, should be a key consideration when using the fund;
Amendment 338 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 129
Paragraph 129
129. Calls on the EU and its Member States to promote the testing, validation, introduction and further dissemination of computer- and ICT-based methods to improve energy efficiency – particularlyfor dematerialization and vastly enhanced energy efficiency – particularly through improved logistics in freight transport, replacing physical travel with tele- and videoconferencing, improved electricity networks, energy- efficient buildings and smart lightning – in cooperation with industry, consumers, authorities, universities and research institutions;
Amendment 352 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 133 a (new)
Paragraph 133 a (new)
133a. Calls on the Commission and Member States urgently to adopt new, innovative finance mechanisms to aid the rapid implementation of both domestic and external climate policies, including earmarking of auctioning revenues from the EU ETS and the joint Commission/World Bank proposal of a Global Climate Finance Mechanism, based on the principle of frontloading aid;
Amendment 354 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 134
Paragraph 134
134. Calls on the competent bodies in the Member States to create new careers and to adapt not only practical work training but also occupational training colleges and courses at technical colleges and universities to the specific employment- related challenges of the structural economic change which is being hastened by climate change and its effects; furthermore, calls for regular investigations into emerging skills needs;
Amendment 355 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 134 a (new)
Paragraph 134 a (new)
134a. Recognises the important role played by workers and their representatives in greening their companies and workplaces, at the national and transnational levels, and calls for Community support for the development, exchange and dissemination of best practice;
Amendment 364 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 141 a (new)
Paragraph 141 a (new)
141a. Recognises that, in order to tackle food-related greenhouse gas emissions, the EU must consider making significant reductions in overall production and consumption of livestock products;
Amendment 367 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 144
Paragraph 144
144. Considers it important, in the dialogue with citizens and retailers, to focus advertising on regional and seasonal products, and to use consumer information, in particular mandatory labelling regarding the production method of meat products as an aid to consumer decisions, so as to highlight the climate impact of intensive livestock production;
Amendment 396 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas a key objective of the European Union as regards both its internal policy and its external relations is promoting respect for human rights, and whereas, in particular, the European Union recognises the rights to life, security, health, education and environment protection as fundamental, as well as the protection of persons particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including women, children, the elderly and persons with disabilities,
Amendment 401 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas urgent measures are needed to tackle energy and fuel poverty,
Amendment 407 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
Human impact Ha. whereas the impact of climate change on human societies is already being felt in many places, such as the Sahel, where desertification is having a major effect, Bangladesh, which is subject to repeated flooding, certain parts of Europe, and several Pacific islands which are destined to disappear underwater, bringing about the disappearance of nation states,
Amendment 408 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)
Recital H b (new)
Hb. whereas the adaptation strategies that have been implemented are neither being sufficiently promoted nor are they sufficient in the long run, and whereas they will not be able to prevent major population displacements; whereas there are well-founded fears that populations fleeing unbearable environmental conditions may increase exponentially over the coming years;
Amendment 411 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas the negotiations towards a post- 2012 agreement are being carried on under UN leadership in accordance with the Bali roadmap in the following core areas: emissions reductions and new binding reduction targets, adaptation measures, forest clearance, destruction and destrucgradation, development of technology for reducmitigation and adaptation measures, the necessary financial resources, and finally the review of the flexible mechanisms under the Marrakesh agreements on the Kyoto Protocol,
Amendment 413 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas the Council’s 2008 Spring Summit stressed the need to speed up the negotiations on the Bali roadmap with a view to adopting a new climate change agreement by 2009, in accordance with the EU's 2°C objective by 2009,
Amendment 422 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. .whereas the available funding for adaptation measures in developing countries is quite inadequate and shouldmust be substantially increased,
Amendment 423 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O a (new)
Recital O a (new)
Oa. whereas there is currently a huge gap as regards the financing of adaptation in developing countries; whereas while estimated annual adaptation costs range from USD 50-80 billion per annum, the total amount of funds committed through multilateral funding mechanisms in mid- 2007 amounted to less than 0.5 % of those figures,
Amendment 424 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital R a (new)
Recital R a (new)
Ra. whereas the EU's carbon footprint includes the greenhouse gases emitted in the production of goods consumed in Europe but produced elsewhere,
Amendment 431 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital W
Recital W
W. whereas energy savings are in the cheapestlong term the most cost-effective and cleanest way of saving resources and thus combating climate change,
Amendment 458 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AG
Recital AG
Amendment 516 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital BU
Recital BU
BU. whereas the nutritional resources of the sea are already being fully overexploited,
Amendment 533 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital CF a (new)
Recital CF a (new)
CFa. whereas sustainable housing presents an enormous potential for job creation,
Amendment 547 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital CN a (new)
Recital CN a (new)
CNa. whereas there are significant skills gaps in the industrial sectors which would form the foundation for the development of future employment in green industries, e.g. engineering; whereas EU objectives for transformation to a more sustainable economy require existing manufacturing sector skills gaps to be addressed,