The European Union has set fairly lofty goals of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by a target of 80% through the 2050 and the European Climate Foundation has recently come out strongly in support of these goals. The Foundation does emphasize that a very aggressive stance will be required however, but that not only are these goals reasonable, but that the end result will deliver more reliability and greater savings.
At the core of the assertion made by the European Climate Foundation is that energy production can be almost entirely carbon neutral by the year 2050, so long as the European Union works aggressively to invest as soon as possible. Renewable energy generation methods, including additional nuclear capacity must be initiated by building as early as possible. If there is a significant delay through our current decade, building targets and other initiatives will be accelerated so significantly that they may not be achievable.
Not only will government leaders need to be visionary, but industry executives must share this vision if a very low carbon economy is to be achieved by the year 2050. The investment needed will be in the region of 3 trillion over the next 40 years, but this can be offset by an overall reduction in fossil fuel use and major energy efficiency savings.
The European Union’s climate plan is by far the most aggressive in the world and is tied to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, started off in 2005. The European Climate Foundation endorses the efforts of the European Union, which has been the most proactive in terms of climate action.
Environmental experts assert that the EU must convert its power sector to carbon neutral if it is to be able to meet its significant goals. As power generation is highly contributory to the overall problem, almost widespread adoption of low or no carbon power generation activities must be achieved.
The European Union climate plan is quite an achievement when you consider that it requires the input of 27 different member nations in order to work. All member nations have agreed to a burden sharing agreement to cover individual emission reductions in each nation and a central, semi-independent body is in place to oversee and corroborate all activity.
There’s considerable pressure on legislators within the United States to come up with a climate plan for the world’s largest polluter. Notoriously slow in addressing climate related issues, the United States falls way behind the European Union in taking real action.
All companies in the United States must realize that they will be affected by a cap and trade system or carbon taxation without a doubt in the near future. As they watch Congress trying to develop a climate plan for the country, companies must be ready to determine the size of their own carbon footprint and act proactively.
Daniel Stouffer has a lot of information about the climate plan and how a visit to www.verisae.com will be of use to you.
0 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.