So much is happening today in and around Italy as the G8 meeting is taking place. That is why we are trying out something new here on Green Blog. We will be reporting about all the climate-related news coming from the G8 camp with the help from Twitter.
Will the G8 leaders agree on a strong climate plan and a roadmap to the Copenhagen climate talks? Or will they fail once again? Stay tuned to find out!
Green political parties from across Europe made a successful European parliament election this past week. The European Greens gained 11 new seats in the parliament and will now have a total of 46 Green MEPs, an increase with 31%. The Greens/EFA Group is now likely to have 53 MEPS (46 Greens and 7 EFA MEPs).
“To have increased the number of Green MEPs from 35 to 46 is a great success. Our showing is even more remarkable when you consider that we have 11 more seats than before in a parliament with 49 fewer MEPS and that all other groups have shrunk”, said EGP Co-Spokesperson Philippe Lamberts, who has been elected a MEP for the Belgian French-speaking Green Party Ecolo.
In France the green political party Europe-Ecologie gained 16% of the votes and will thus send 13 green MEPs to the European parliament. Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Finland are other countries where the greens will receive more MEPs than from the last EU election. In Greece 3.48% of the people voted for Ecologoi-Prasinoi and as a result Greece will be able to send their first green MEP to the European Parliament.
Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi (more known as brokep) the co-founder of the Pirate Bay, the world’s largest BitTorrent tracker, also wants you to vote green in the upcoming European elections.
The upcoming European Elections are just a few days away. And when it comes to saving the climate this EU election is one of the more important ones. And I believe it’s definitely something you must take part in if you care the slightest about the climate, your children and their future, the environment or just the well state of your country.
Find your country’s green party and vote for it in the upcoming EU election. It really isn’t harder than that! This is our chance to vote for change. Don’t waste it.
The upcoming European Elections are just a few weeks away. And when it comes to saving the climate this EU election is one of the more important ones. And I believe it’s definitely something you must take part in if you care the slightest about the climate, your children and their future, the environment or just the well state of your country.
As you probably already know by now time is no longer on our side when it comes to fighting man-made climate change. We need radical actions now if we are to have the slightest chance to stop the worst doomsday scenarios. That is why this election is so important. Because whatever you like it or not the decisions which are being made in the European Parliament affects all member states. So this is our chance to vote for meaningful actions against climate change that will affect politics and regulations both in Europe and around the world. Don’t wait until the next European Parliament elections in 2014, because then it will be too late.
European car makers Pininfarina and Bolloré have created BlueCar, a hybrid vehicle powered by lithium-polymer batteries. According to the car makers the first units of this electric car will be delivered in about a year. Leases for the BlueCar will be available in six European countries at a cost of €330 per month.
BlueCar will be able to be charged from a standard domestic main socket and will have a range of 250 km (153 miles). The car will have a top speed of 130 km/h (80 mph) and will feature potent acceleration, reaching 60 km/h from a standing start (0 to 37 mph) in 6.3 seconds. According to Pininfarina and Bollore the BlueCar will be able to run about 30 km (20 miles) on only a charge of a few minutes. The car will also be equipped with solar panels on the roof to help power the electrical equipments as well as its heating and air-conditioning system. Critics say the solar panels are a cool addition to the car but that it will make the car more expensive.
George Monbiot writes today on the Guardian that the new EU emissions agreement is a disaster and calls it carbon colonialism.
So much for the Europeans leading the way on climate change. Even as our governments claim they want to drag the world into an effective climate agreement in Poznan, they have just pulled Europe out of one in Brussels.
The agreement they have just reached is a disaster. The 20% carbon cut they promise by 2020 falls miles short of what’s needed, and they’ll be able to buy most of it from abroad anyway. All this means, in a world which has to eliminate most of its carbon pollution, is that other countries, which have sold their easiest reductions to us, will then find it harder to make emissions cuts of their own. It’s carbon colonialism, in which Europe picks the low-hanging fruit in developing countries, leaving them with much tougher choices later on.
Leaders from the European Union (EU) have just agreed on a new watered-down climate deal to tackle global warming. The actual emissions cuts could amount to as little as 4% by 2020.
Yesterday UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in Poznan that “the world is watching us. The next generation is counting on us. We must not fail.” He also called for the EU to show the way and leadership on the climate crisis for other countries. Unfortunately it seems the short-sighted “leaders” of Europe ignored him. Instead of 30% emission cuts by 2020 the EU leaders only agreed on cuts by 20% by 2020, compared to 1990 levels.
But the actual emission cuts could end up being as little as 4% by 2020, environmental groups warned. That is because of special exemptions for dirty industries in Europe as well as allowing cheap emission cuts overseas to be counted to the EU total. The latter has been heavily pushed by the new Swedish right-wing government who has called for as much as 88% of the EU emission cuts to be allowed to do overseas in development countries.
Avaaz, an independent and not-for-profit global campaigning organization, says that European leadership on climate is “essential to secure us all a global deal” in the UN climate conference in Poznań, Poland. Unfortunately have Germany, Poland and Italy so far been the “main blockers” during the climate negotiations for strong European actions.
But Avaaz says that Poland has begun to change their mind and that now only Germany and Italy are left “standing in the way”. And so they want you to help them put pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel “to do the smart thing for the environment and the economy”.
Germany is the key – Chancellor Merkel is normally a climate champion, but has caved to industry, fearing for German jobs. She needs to hear from us that a Green Recovery is the answer to both our climate and our economic crises.
Merkel cares a great deal about her international reputation, which is why Avaaz has delivered our 150,000-strong petition and protested at her international meetings with the Poles. But now for the punch: an Avaaz commissioned opinion poll which reveals that 85% of Merkel’s own people are calling for her to show leadership in securing a strong climate deal. Together, we can help push Merkel over the edge — follow this link to leave her a quick message encouraging her to do the smart thing for the environment and the economy: http://www.avaaz.org/en/merkel_lead_on_climate/
The governments of Italy and Poland are, as I write this, trying to weaken the already weak climate goals that the European Union agreed on in January. Italy and Poland blames their will to inaction against climate change because of the current financial crisis. They argue that they can’t afford to implement tough emissions targets on their industrial sector.
This is a fine example of ignorance from these right-wing governments in Europe. The climate package will not worsen the economy for Europe. Instead the plan will create millions of new green jobs, reduce our fuel costs and avert a catastrophe beyond our wildest dreams.
During a summit Nicolas Sarkozy said that they will look for “solutions” for those European countries who have expressed concerns about the climate goals and their economy. “The climate package is so important that we cannot simply drop it, under the pretext of a financial crisis,” said Nicolas Sarkozy, who currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency.
In December last year Italy decided to join Australia and Ireland to ban incandescent light bulbs. The Italian budget committee voted in favour of an incandescent light bulb ban from the Green MP Angello Bonelli. The ban will take place in 2011.
More European countries are planning on following Irelands and Italy’s “bright” decision in a, very, near future.
The European Lamp Companies Federation plans for a incandescent light bulb phase out by year 2019. This just shows that government guidelines and actions do make more difference than what the private sector could accomplish.
Image credit: So It’s Come To This. Image licensed under a
Creative-Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works license.
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In December last year Italy decided to join Australia and Ireland to ban incandescent light bulbs. The Italian budget committee voted in favour of an incandescent light bulb ban from the Green MP Angello Bonelli. The ban will take place in 2011.
