Activities of Rebecca HARMS related to 2008/2001(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Scientific facts of climate change: findings and recommendations for decision-making (debate)
Amendments (12)
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas research based on observations and modelling shows the risk of serious impacts occurring on our planet if no measures are not undertaken swiftly to slow or even halt further increases in CO2 and other GHG emissions such as methane orand nitrous dioxide, and the need to further reduce GHG emissions to a level which can be sustained by the absorption capacity of natural sinks,
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas the scientific consensus as expressed in IPCC AR4 leads to the conclusion that the level of global GHG emissions must be at least halved by 2050 to avoid serious risks; whereas this target has been endorsed by the EU Heads of State and Heads of Government at the meeting of the G8 at Heiligendamm; whereas it will be increasingly difficult to achieve this target if global GHG emissions continue to rise until 2020 and beyond; whereas nearly all Member States are making good or even excellent progress in their efforts to comply with their individual EU burden- sharing targets, thus raising the likelihood that the EU will reach its Kyoto target by 2012albeit that a significant proportion of the progress towards the Kyoto targets is being achieved through the use of flexible mechanisms; whereas, nevertheless, after 2012 Member States will have to reduce GHG emissions in a more ambitious way if they are to meet the targets adopted at the above-mentioned European Council on 8-9 March 2007 and to halve their GHG emissions by 2050,
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas there is political consensus in the EU on the vital importance of achieving the strategic objective of limiting the global average temperature increase to not more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels; whereas the global temperature has already risen by 0,76°C during the last century, and will continue to rise by an additional 0.6°C due to GHG concentrations already existing in the atmosphere,
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L a (new)
Recital L a (new)
La. whereas, for the climate system, it is the total amount of cumulated greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere that is relevant, not relative emissions or relative reductions, and thus, for the purposes of avoiding dangerous climate change, the most significant determining factor is the total amount of GHG emissions in the coming years and decades,
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas the IPCC AR4 has, for the first time, collated existing documented the wide- ranging impacts of changes in current climate patterns infor Europe, such as retreating glaciers, increasingly lengthy seasons, shifts in the geographical rangelonger growing seasons, shifts of species’ habitatranges and health impacts caused bydue to a heatwave of unprecedented magnitude; whereas the changes observed changes are consistent with those projected for future climate change; whereas, throughout Europe as a whol in an overall balance for Europe, nearly all regions will be negatively affected by the varioussome future impacts of climate change and these will pose challenges into many economic sectors; whereas climate change is expected to magnify regional differences in Europe’s natural resources, e.g. water availability,
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas existing climate change mitigation policies and related sustainable development practices are insufficient to reduce global GHG emissions over the next decades; whereas, according to scientific recommendations, the window of opportunity for the successful stabilisation of global GHG concentrations in order to ensure at least a probability of 50% and thus to reach the EU 2°C target will remain open until 2015, that being the peak year of global emissions to a level corresponding to a 50% likelihood of maintaining climate change to 2°C will remain open until 2015, when global emissions would need to peak,
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N a (new)
Recital N a (new)
Na. whereas the contribution of Working Group III to IPCC AR4 indicates that, in order to achieve the lowest levels assessed by the IPCC to date and the corresponding potential damage limitation, Annex I parties to the UNFCCC would need as a group to reduce emissions by 25%-40% below 1990 levels by 2020,
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas the next IPCC assessment report will probably not be published until 2012 or 2013; whereas additional knowledge emanating from peer-reviewed scientific literature and from scientific reports commissioned by governments or conducted by other international bodies or UN institutions such as the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) or the World Health Organization (WHO) are making a significant contribution to a deeper understanding of the current and future impact of climate change on humans and the environment,
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Believes, therefore, that further research aimed at a better understanding of the causes and consequences of global warming is essential for responsible decision-making; considers, nevertheless, that the level of knowledge acquired to date is sufficient for the urgent formulation of policies that contribute towould achieve GHG emission reductions limiting climate change to +2°C and of measures for adaptation to current climate change;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Believes that the communication of scientific evidence of human impact on the global climate must be the main element of a broader effort to raise public awareness and subsequently gain public support for political measures to curb carbon emissions; believes, furthermore, that individual changes in lifestyle patterns are necessary and should be a part of educational attempts to communicate the causes and effects of global warming, but that they cannot be imposed by political decisions;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Considers that further scientific effort is urgently needed to calculate the external climate costs of transport, and to quantify the effects of air craft pollution, in particular vapour contrails, on climate change;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Believes that Parliament should function as a role model in curbing emissions and that it should ask its Secretary-General and the Committee on Budgets to examine, as a first step, options and possibilities forconsider ways to reduce and eventually offsetting the carbon emissions caused through the work of the Temporary Committee on Climate Change, especially during its delegation visits, in order to have a comprehensive carbon balance at the end of its mandateits work;