EU Greenhouse Deal 2014

On October 24, the member states of the European Union (EU) arrived at a landmark deal to cut emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere. They set their target to cut about 40% emission by 2030, compared to that of 1990, to check global warming. In addition to GHG emission, two additional targets were agreed: 27% renewable energy market share on EU as a whole, and 27% increase in energy efficiency improvement. The former target is not binding on all states and the latter remains optional to all with a possibility to raise it to 30% by a review in 2020.
Global warming is changing the world climate by melting ice of the poles and glaciers of the mountains.  The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated in 2007 that the atmospheric concentration of CO2 was 0.038% in 2005, compared to 0.028% in the pre-industrial period. Bangladesh and some other island nations that are very close to the mean sea level face an increasing threat of submersion from sea level rise, drought, flood, etc., because of global warming. In the twentieth century the sea level has risen @ 1.8mm per year; during 1993-2000 it rose @ 3.1 mm per year.
Because of the greenhouse effect which is contributing to the sea level rise Bangladesh, Netherlands, Denmark and the Maldives may go under sea water in near future due to this. In recent years, cyclone Katrina hit New Orleans city on August 29, 2005; cyclones Irene and Sandy hit New York City on August 29, 2011 and October 29, 2012, and inundated vast low lying areas with sea water. These are also thought to be effects of sea level rise.
Bangladesh faced some big natural calamities in the past, e.g., flood arriving from Assam in 1954, cyclone in 1970, flood due to heavy rainfall in 1988, flood from India in 1996, flood from a depression in the southwestern Bangladesh in 2000, and flood in the haor areas in 2004. On December, 1997, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted a protocol in Kyoto to check atmospheric pollution like emission of GHG by human activities. When this protocol came into effect on February 16, 2005, people all over the world became vocal on global warming and climate change. Cyclone Sidr of November 15, 2007, and Aila of May 25, 2009, are thought to be effects of global warming. The nations that have the highest per capita energy consumption or the most developed nations emit GHG the most, causing global warming. The European Union (EU) had already set 20% reduction target by 2020. Though environmentalists say that the EU could do more, the EU Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, said she was “very proud” that the leaders “were able to get their act together on this pressing climate challenge” (bbc.com).
The EU has 28 member countries including UK. Its Energy Secretary Ed Davey described the deal as “a historic moment.” He further said: “Europe has sent a clear and firm message to the world that ambitious climate action is needed now.” Poland, one of the member states of EU, has, however threatened to withdraw from the deal if concessions are not made. Poland, which is heavily reliant on coal, fears that the costs of decarburising its economy will slow business growth. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: “We made a decisive step forward.” The German economy ($3.227 trillion, 2013 est.) is the fifth largest economy in the world in PPP terms and Europe's largest. Germany is a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and household equipment and benefits from a highly skilled labour force.
The developed as well as the oil rich nations so far have been burning fossil fuels (thus emitting CO2 into the atmosphere) at high rate to keep the pace of their development. Thus, they were and are mainly responsible for climate change. According to Wikipedia, the 2012 estimates of carbon emission were, Australia 18.8, USA 16.8, Canada 16.0, South Korea 13.0, Russia 12.4, Japan 10.4, Germany 9.7, UK 7.7, Italy 6.3, France 5.8 tons/capita/year; whereas, India and Bangladesh were 1.4 and 0.3 tons/capita/year in 2008; Qatar 53.5, UAE 34.6, and Kuwait 26.3 tons/capita/year in 2008. On 2010 estimates, China tops by emitting 24.65% alone, then USA 16.16% and EU 7.38% of the global volume. But the polluting nations, instead of mitigating the threat, advocate adapting to the situation by taking loans in the name of climate change projects. The Copenhagen conference in 2009 arrived at a deal to raise a $100 billion dollar fund by 2020 to support the would-be affected nations in adaptating to climate change.   
The IPCC released a Synthesis Report on November 1 on its fifth assessment on climate change, looking into its cause, impact, and possible solution to our slowly warming world. The 116-page document shows how energy consumption by nations is altering the planet. It blames fossil fuels for contributing to 78% of the total GHG emitted from 1978 to 2010. The IPCC has set a deadline for phasing out fossil fuels. With this follow up from IPCC it appears that the climate change issue is gaining momentum. The 20th Conference of the Parties (COP) on climate change, to be held in the first week of December 2014 in Lima, and its projection to the 21st COP conference in Paris to be held in the middle of December 2015, are likely to be influenced by the EU Greenhouse Deal and the IPCC Synthesis Report.  

The writer is Chairman, Institute of Water & Environment.  Email: [email protected]