EU comes under pressure to be more energy efficient and green

Business leaders have today called on the European Union to redouble their green energy efforts and strengthen the Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). Business leaders would also like to see targets for renewable energy and energy efficiency stepped up.

The Prince of Wales’s EU Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change (EUCLG) and colleagues from sister organisations the Cambridge Natural Capital Leaders Platform and The Atlas Project, all run by the University of Cambridge, will meet with EU President José Manuel Barroso along with Climate and Environment Commissioners Connie Hedegaard and Janez Potocnik.

The Group of businesses, which includes Acciona, Alstom, Coca Cola, Deutsche Telekom, Doosan Power Systems, Intel, Kingfisher, Philips, Shell and Unilever will be sending a strong message to EU leaders that low carbon green growth and resource efficiency is the key to economic recovery and offers future prosperity across the region.

The economic models of old are not serving Europe’s interest and have been unable to offer sustainable economic recovery. By looking to the future and being progressive business leaders hope to drive forward and grow by being energy efficient and investing in green and renewable energy.

The EUCLG wants to see the EU ETS ‘re-calibrated’ to ensure a carbon price that really drives low-carbon investment at the pace necessary to realise the region’s 2050 emission reduction goals.

At the meeting business leaders will also call on Barroso to commit at least 20% of the next multi-year budget to climate-related activities.

This echoes concerns voiced by the International Energy Agency recently that limiting global temperature increases to 2°C do not look feasible at the current time unless more urgent action is taken.

“The CO₂ price is currently too low to drive the essential energy efficiency measures and support the development of low carbon technologies at the required speed and scale,” says Shell’s special advisor on CO₂, Graeme Sweeney. “For the European Union to meet its climate change goals, the CO₂ price in Europe needs to be strengthened.”

In addition governments need to offer more incentives for businesses to become more energy efficient. This is a growing sector of the economy, with more and more businesses trying to help others become more energy efficient and green. Simple things like using half-hourly meters and choosing the best energy supplier for you are simple ways to make your business more efficient.