31 Amendments of Paul BRANNEN related to 2015/2112(INI)
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the EU's leadership on climate change mitigation and adaption, including the creation of skills, jobs and growth that it brings; notes the crucial need for a global binding agreement to be concluded in Paris and stresses that continued EU leadership requiresthat ensures a reduction in emissions to remain within the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) 2°C Scenario; stresses that the EU should press for the full commitment of all parties to this agreement; insists on a regular, transparent performance reviewaluations based on the most up- to-date scientific data and technologyies, including an adjustment mechanism to assess, and where necessary adjust, INDCs;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 20 a (new)
Citation 20 a (new)
– having regard to the New York Declaration on Forests at the UN Climate Summit in September 2014;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 20 b (new)
Citation 20 b (new)
– having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Addressing the challenges of deforestation and forest degradation to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Recommends a minimum spending commitment of at least 2% GDP on climate change mitigation and adaptation, at both the national level and the EU as a whole;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Stresses the need to strengthen coordination and climate risk management at the EU level and to create a clear EU adaptation strategy; Recommends the implementation of ambitious and binding targets on CO2 emissions and renewable energy, at both national and EU level, to enable and ensure the transition to a sustainable and secure economy;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that should other major competitors of the EU's energy-intensive industries fail to make similar commitments on GHG reductions, carbon leakage provisions will be maintained in the long term and strengthened where necessary; considers it vital that sustainable European agribusiness is protected against carbon leakagand where necessary more long term solutions will be considered, including carbon- border adjustments; considers it vital that key European industries, including agribusiness and energy intensive industries, are protected against carbon leakage and that sectoral specific roadmaps are developed to help guide industries to a truly sustainable future;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Stresses that delays in taking action will increase the cost of climate change mitigation and adaptation, and will narrow the range of technology options available; considers that early action will have a positive impact on the long-term competitiveness of European industries and energy producers;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Insists that any agreement should contain, as a key component, the concept of a 'Just Transition' to a low carbon future, which includes decent quality job creation, enhanced social dialogue and policies to support the workforce in energy and related industrial sectors;
Amendment 39 #
1. Recognises the extraordinary scale and seriousness of the threats induced by climate change and is extremely concerned that the world is severely off track to limit global warming to below 2°C, with a carbon gap likely to reach 50% of the scale of mitigation required; calls on governments to take, without delay, concrete measures against climate change and towards a global agreement in Paris 2015 to deliver this target;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Notes the findings of the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report concluding that even the full cessation of carbon emissions from the industrialised countries will not ensure the achievement of the below 2° C target without significant new commitments by developing countries;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Expects the European Commission to assume a pro-active role in negotiations; calls on it to make it clear that the climate challenge is the top strategic priority of this Commission and to organise itself in a way which reflects this, at all levels and across all policy areas;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Insists on the global phase-out of environmentally and economically harmful subsidies, which distort competitiveness and hinder innovation;, hinder innovation, and generally slows the greening of the EU economy; However, recognises that subsidies can, if utilised correctly, aid the development of a sustainable economy and can be a vital component in the development of new technologies critical to climate action.
Amendment 70 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Underlines the serious negative consequences of non-action; stresses that a concerted global political and financial push for clean energy innovation is crucial to meeting our climate goals and to facilitate growth in EU green-economy sectors; highlights the need to preserve existing copyright and intellectual property rights in technology and knowledge transfer to third countries;
Amendment 80 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Insists that the European Commission uses the Covenant of Mayors to inform its negotiating position, as cities, regions and local communities will be key actors in ensuring climate action legislation and measures are effectively implemented at the local level;
Amendment 81 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Stresses that the EU should increase its efforts on technology transfers for least developed countries, reinforcing the REACT and CELA programmes, and replicating these in other regions; considers that the current time period for a climate change related technology to reach the global market, normally several decades, is too long and is a serious limit on the global impact of such technologies;
Amendment 84 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Insists that energy efficiency should play a vital role in global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; Considers the current EU Council's non-binding energy efficiency target of 27% by 2030 to be insufficient; Calls on the EU, in the event of an agreement being achieved at COP 21, to revise and increase its 2030 energy efficiency targets and make such targets legally binding.
Amendment 93 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Underlines the enormous carbon storage potential of the bioenergy sector; calls for bioenergy, together with grassland and forestry, to be recognised for their emission- mitigating qualities; additionally notes, that when combined with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology, biomass as a fuel for energy generation could potentially lead to negative emissions, as recognised by the IPPC;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Calls upon EU Member States to adopt complimentary commitments, additional to any agreed greenhouse gas reduction targets, to reduce up to 1 billion tons of CO2 per year outside of the EU before 2030 in order to enable the world to achieve the below 2° C target;
Amendment 115 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Welcomes the efforts made on cooperation between the EU and the United States' Department of Energy, particularly around climate change technology research; Considers that there is much potential for further research cooperation between the EU and other major economies; Stresses that the results of publicly funded research should be made freely available;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Underlines that without significant new mitigation effort focused on the tropical forest sector (REDD+) the achievement of the below 2° C target is likely to be impossible; notes that according to the IPCC, land-based mitigation can cover 20-60% of the global emission cuts by 2030 or 15-45% by 2050, whereas deforestation and forest degradation are responsible for 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Reiterates, therefore, the EU’s own commitment taken in 2008 to help reduce gross tropical forest loss by 50% by 2020 and to halt global forest loss entirely by 2030; underlines that an achievement of these commitments together with restoration of 350 million hectares of forests as called for in the New York Declaration on Forests can reduce 4.5-8.8 billion tons of CO2 per year in 2030;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 c (new)
Paragraph 9 c (new)
9c. Reiterates the findings of the UN Environment Programme that in order to stop carbon emissions completely by 2070, carbon sequestration through forest growth or carbon capture and storage has to be mobilised in order to sequester the carbon emitted in all sectors of the global economy;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 d (new)
Paragraph 9 d (new)
9d. Notes the effectiveness of the existing REDD+ mitigation mechanism and encourages EU Member States to include it in any climate change mitigation efforts in order to save most of the remaining tropical forests as well as to contribute to the preservation of biodiversity and global precipitation patterns vital for the world’s agriculture;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 e (new)
Paragraph 9 e (new)
9e. Calls on EU Member States to enter into voluntary international mitigation partnerships with those developing countries particularly affected by tropical deforestation in view of providing financial or technical assistance to stop deforestation by means of implementation of sustainable land use policies or governance reforms;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 f (new)
Paragraph 9 f (new)
9f. Acknowledges the role of trade and private enterprises in generating demand for commodities that might have resulted from illegal deforestation, particularly by illegal conversion of forest land for agricultural use; calls on the Commission to propose robust measures to stop the imports into the EU of goods derived from illegal deforestation; welcomes in this regard a pledge by the Consumer Goods Forum to help eliminate deforestation from the supply chains of soy, beef, paper and palm oil by 2020;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Considers that the level of ambition necessary to bridge the existing carbon gap on the part of the developing countries is achievable only if significant assistance from the industrialised countries has been mobilised; calls therefore on the industrialised countries to enter into dedicated partnerships with developing countries aimed at helping them meet ambitious climate mitigation objectives, particularly by way of targeted financial assistance, debt reduction or provision of know-how and technologies;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls for concrete commitments to deliver additional sources of climate finance, such as the adoption of a financial transactions taxo explore initiatives for the adoption of a Fossil Fuel Transaction Tax on Investment-bank level transactions involving finance for or derived from fossil fuels and the allocation of emissions trading revenues to climate- related investments, and revenues from carbon pricing of transport fuels; calls for concrete steps including a timetable for the phase out of fossil fuel subsidies, an ambitious roadmap of commitments of public and multilateral banks in favour of financing the ecological transition, specific public guarantees in favour of green investments, labels and fiscal advantages for green investment funds and for issuing green bonds;
Amendment 208 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Emphasises that additional climate change mitigation commitments by EU Member States provided to the developing countries in the form of international agreements would potentially free up parts of public foreign assistance which might be then spent on adaptation and resilience measures which constitute a political priority for a number of the poorest developing countries;
Amendment 211 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Calls on major developed economies to harness their existing advanced infrastructure to promote, enhance and develop sustainable growth and to commit to support developing countries to build their own capacity to ensure future economic growth in all parts of the world is achieved at no further cost to the environment;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16b. Stresses the importance of the role that the Development Community, OECD and OECD DAC should play in working closely with stakeholders and relevant organisation to assess and mitigate the worst human impacts of climate change, which are expected to be challenging even below a 2°C warming level;
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 c (new)
Paragraph 16 c (new)
16c. Recalls the principle of EU Policy Coherence in this, the European Year for Development, which seeks to take account of development objectives in all policies that are likely to affect developing countries and therefore calls on negotiators to aim with their COP strategy to minimise contradictions and ensure synergy between the EU negotiating position and different EU policies to benefit developing countries and increase the effectiveness of development cooperation;