March, 08 2011, 06:55am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Joris den Blanken – Greenpeace EU climate and energy policy director (expert on EU affairs)
+32 (0) 476 961375 (mobile), joris.den.blanken@greenpeace.
Mareike Britten – Greenpeace International climate campaigner (expert on companies):
+31 (0) 629001141 (mobile), mareike.britten@greenpeace.org
Jack Hunter – Greenpeace EU communications officer
+31 (0) 476988584 (mobile), jack.hunter@greenpeace.org
Case for 30 Percent Carbon Target Now Unstoppable
General Electric Energy, Google, Unilever and Otto Group all demanding higher target
BRUSSELS
On 8 March, the European Commission is expected to publish its analysis, Moving to a Low Carbon Economy in 2050, exploring how best to achieve Europe's 80-95 percent emission reduction goal.
This briefing:
* Outlines the current environmental and business context
* Analyses the roadmap
* Charts major companies calling for a 30% carbon target for 2020
Urgency
The imperative for immediate action and a long-term vision for climate protection are more urgent than ever. Last year was the hottest on record jointly with 2005. Nine of the ten warmest years in history occurred after 2000. Recent years have seen a dramatic rise in the number of extreme weather events, including last year's runaway Russian fires and major flooding in Pakistan and Australia.
The economic case
There are direct economic incentives for moving to a higher climate target. A recent study for the German government by Oxford and Sorbonne Universities and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), found that a 30 percent target for the EU could create up to six million jobs, net, by 2020. The price spikes of oil and coal this February, to $100 US per barrel and $145 a tonne respectively, underline the need to shield economies from fossil fuel price volatility.
Progressive companies see the need for better action on climate. Over the last six months well-known brands, including Unilever, GE Energy, Philips, Allianz and Deutsche Telekom, have called on EU governments to support a 30 percent climate target for 2020. A list of these companies can be found in the table below.
Analysis of the roadmap
A recent draft of the Commission roadmap concludes:
* All sectors of the economy have to contribute to emission reductions, with the EU's power sector taking a leading role.
* Within the EU, emission reductions in the order of 40 percent by 2030 and 60 percent by 2040 are required to economically achieve 80 percent domestic reductions by 2050.
* Under the roadmap, Europe can look forward to average fuel cost savings of EUR175-320 billion a year.
* To meet the 2050 target cost-efficiently requires a 25 percent carbon cut within Europe (domestic) by 2020. By respecting its energy efficiency targets alone, Europe could cut its emissions by 25 percent.
* In the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), measures need to be taken in the 2013-2020 phase to reward low-carbon investments and innovation.
Domestic emission reductions of 25 percent by 2020 equate to a 30 percent overall EU carbon target that the Commission assessed in a communication in May 2010. This assessment looked at 25 percent reductions domestically and 5 percent reductions through the purchase of offset credits in countries outside of the EU.
Greenpeace argues that the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), Europe's carbon market for industry, and that emission reduction targets for member states (under the EU's Effort Sharing Decision) should be reformed in accordance with a 30 percent target. The EU's carbon market is the cornerstone of its efforts to decarbonise. But Europe is awash with surplus free credits, giving polluting industries a soft cushion to rest on rather than a belt to slim their emissions. Without reducing the number of credits in the carbon trading scheme, efficiency gains by some industries would create only more surplus of credits, making it easier and cheaper for others to continue polluting. Climate commissioner Hedegaard said on 28 February 2011 that "the ETS at present does not give sufficient incentive for innovation." The draft roadmap suggests that a reduction of emission credits is required.
With over 17 percent carbon cuts already achieved by 2010, the EU has just under a decade to reach its existing 20 percent 2020 target. The roadmap shows that it has never been easier for the EU to step up to an unconditional 30 percent target. Therefore, Greenpeace believes that a faster start in domestic emission reductions is needed by 2020 than what is suggested in the roadmap. As outlined in the abovementioned PIK report, there is a strong economic case for 30 percent domestic reductions by 2020.
Efficiency savings are a major element of the roadmap. However, as experience proves, today's voluntary efficiency targets are not enough. A 30 percent target will ensure that they are met and will fix Europe's failing carbon trading system.
Greenpeace demands
EU environment ministers meeting in Brussels on 14 March should:
* Acknowledge that the existing 20 percent 2020 carbon target is out of date and doesn't provide the necessary incentives for clean investments, innovation and job creation.
* Call for an unconditional 30 percent carbon target. The Commission should provide analysis and proposals for this higher target. These should include strengthening the ETS and EU Effort Sharing Decision.
* The roadmap calls for the examination of funding mechanisms to support low carbon investments. Ministers should back this call and focus attention on the need to support energy modernisation and emission reduction measures in Central and Eastern Europe, where a large low-cost potential for renewable energy and energy efficiency is available. The International Energy Agency called for a similar focus on these states in a statement on 2 March.
Greenpeace EU climate and energy policy director Joris den Blanken said: "The Commission paper shows it has never been easier for Europe to up its climate effort. Raging wildfires and floods in recent years show it has never been more needed. What's holding us up is a twisted carbon market and lobbyists trying their best to keep Europe in neutral."
Greenpeace International climate campaigner Mareike Britten said: "Some of the biggest names in business are recognising that it makes sound economic sense to get our climate in order and move Europe to a 30 percent target. Now is the time for other progressive companies to demand leadership from the EU before it is too late to head off runaway climate change."
A growing number of companies supporting a 30 percent EU carbon target. New and unreported companies in support are Danone, Aviva, Unibail and Bodegas Torrest.
Acciona
Abengoa
Allianz SE
Alstom
ARCADIS
Asda Stores Ltd
Barilla
Beluga Shipping GmbH
British Sky Broadcasting
British Telecom
Bodegas Torres
Capgemini
Centrica
Cisco
Climate Change Capital
Danone
T-Systems / Deutsche Telekom
DHV Group
Elopak
Eneco
F&C Investments
General Electric Energy
Google
James Finlay Ltd
John Lewis Partnership
Johnson Controls
Johnson Matthey
Kingfisher
L'Oreal
Lloyds Banking Group
Marks & Spencer
Nestle Nike
Otto Group
Philips
Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB)
SKAI Group of Companies
Sony Europe
Standard Life
Swiss RE
Tesco
Thames Water
Tryg
Unibail-Rodamco
Unilever
Vodafone
WS Atkins
Greenpeace calls on business in the EU to speak out in favour of innovation and green growth and to support an unconditional 30 percent carbon target by 2020, compared to 1990.
Greenpeace is a global, independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.
+31 20 718 2000LATEST NEWS
Trump-Musk Gutting of USAID Could Lead to More Than 14 Million Deaths Over Five Years: Study
"For many low and middle income countries, the resulting shock would be comparable in scale to a global pandemic or a major armed conflict," said the coordinator behind the study.
Jul 01, 2025
A study published Monday by the medical journal The Lancet found that deep funding cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development, a main target of the Department of Government Efficiency's government-slashing efforts, could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by the year 2030.
For months, humanitarian programs and experts have sounded the alarm on the impact of cutting funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which is the largest funding agency for humanitarian and development aid around the globe, according to the study.
"Our analysis shows that USAID funding has been an essential force in saving lives and improving health outcomes in some of the world's most vulnerable regions over the past two decades," said Daniella Cavalcanti, postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Collective Health and an author of the study, according to a statement published Tuesday. Between 2001 and 2021, an estimated 91 million deaths were prevented in low and middle income countries thanks programs supported by USAID, according to the study.
The study was coordinated by researchers from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health with the help of the Institute of Collective Health of the Federal University of Bahia, the University of California Los Angeles, and the Manhiça Centre for Health Research, as well as others.
To project the future consequences of USAID funding cuts and arrive at the 14 million figure, the researchers used forecasting models to simulate the impact of two scenarios, continuing USAID funding at 2023 levels versus implementing the reductions announced earlier this year, and then comparing the two.
Those estimated 14 million additional deaths include 4.5 million deaths among children younger than five, according to the researchers.
The journalist Jeff Jarvis shared reporting about the study and wrote "murder" on X on Tuesday.
In March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the 83% of the programs at USAID were being canceled. In the same post on X, he praised the Department of Government Efficiency, which at that point had already infiltrated the agency. "Thank you to DOGE and our hardworking staff who worked very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform," he wrote.
Davide Rasella, research professor at Barcelona Institute for Global Health and coordinator of the study, said in a statement Tuesday that "our projections indicate that these cuts could lead to a sharp increase in preventable deaths, particularly in the most fragile countries. They risk abruptly halting—and even reversing—two decades of progress in health among vulnerable populations. For many low- and middle-income countries, the resulting shock would be comparable in scale to a global pandemic or a major armed conflict."
One country where USAID cuts have had a particularly deadly impact is Sudan, according to The Washington Post, which reported on Monday that funding shortages have led to lack of medical supplies and food in the war-torn nation.
"There's a largely unspoken and growing death toll of non-American lives thanks to MAGA," wrote Ishaan Tharoor, a Post columnist, of the paper's reporting on Sudan.
In reference to the reporting on Sudan, others laid blame on billionaire Elon Musk, the billionaire and GOP mega-donor who was initially tapped to lead the Department of Government Efficiency.
"In a less imperfect world, Musk and [President Donald] Trump would be forever cast as killers of children, and this would be front-page news for months and the subject of Sunday sermons in every church," wrote the journalist David Corn.
Keep ReadingShow Less
GOP Still Lacks Votes to Pass Budget Bill 'Because It's a Moral Monstrosity,' Says Senate Democrat
"We have been debating amendments for 21 hours and we are still going because through 12 hours of debate and 21 hours of amendment votes, Republicans still don't have 50 votes for their bill," said Sen. Chris Murphy.
Jul 01, 2025
Even after an all-night session of amendment votes and wrangling behind closed doors, Senate Republicans still did not have enough support to pass their reconciliation package as of Tuesday morning, leaving party leaders scrambling to placate GOP holdovers who are purportedly nervous about the legislation's unprecedented cuts to Medicaid and federal nutrition assistance.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) argued in a social media post that the reason for the GOP's inability to quickly rally its own members around the legislation is straightforward: "Because it's a moral monstrosity."
"We have been debating amendments for 21 hours and we are still going because through 12 hours of debate and 21 hours of amendment votes, Republicans still don't have 50 votes for their bill," Murphy wrote at roughly 5:30 am ET, as the marathon "vote-a-rama" continued with no end in sight.
With Democrats unanimously opposed to the bill, Senate Republicans can only afford to lose three GOP votes if they are to send the measure back to the House for final approval. Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) have said they will vote against the bill in its current form, and Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) are undecided. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) also suggested he's on the fence.
Republican leaders have been working to bring Murkowski into the yes column with a proposal that would temporarily exempt Alaska and other states from the bill's massive cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, ripped the proposal as "absurd" and said it would reward the states with the highest SNAP error rates.
"Insanity reigns," Klobuchar wrote on social media.
Senate Republicans' margins became more difficult after Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) announced his opposition to the legislation over the weekend, pointing to the Senate version's devastating cuts to Medicaid.
"What do I tell 663,000 people in two years or three years, when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off of Medicaid because the funding's not there anymore?" Tillis asked in a floor speech on Sunday, citing an estimate of the number of people in North Carolina who could lose health insurance under the Republican bill.
Throughout the country, nearly 12 million people would lose coverage under the Senate reconciliation bill, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
"Kicking millions off healthcare, blowing up the national debt by trillions, and devastating generational economic harms—all being written into law on the fly," Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said early Tuesday morning after hours of debate and amendment votes.
Keep ReadingShow Less
At Least 95 Palestinians Killed in Israeli Attacks Including Massacres at Beach Café, Aid Points
"I saw body parts flying everywhere, and bodies cut and burned," said one eyewitness to a strike on the popular al-Baqa Café.
Jun 30, 2025
Israeli forces ramped up their genocidal assault on the Gaza Strip Monday, killing at least 95 Palestinians in attacks including massacres at a seaside café and a humanitarian aid distribution center and bombings of five school shelters housing displaced families and a hospital where refugees were sheltering in tents.
An Israeli strike targeted the al-Baqa Café in western Gaza City, one of the few operating businesses remaining after 633 days of Israel's obliteration of the coastal strip and a popular gathering place for journalists, university students, artists, and others seeking reliable internet service and a respite from nearly 21 months of near-relentless attacks.
Medical sources said at least 33 civilians were killed and nearly 50 others wounded in the massacre, including footballer Mustafa Abu Amira, photojournalist Ismail Abu Hatab—who survived an earlier Israeli airstrike and is reportedly the 227th journalists killed by Israel since October 2023—and prominent artist Frans Al-Salmi, whose final painting depicting a young Palestinian woman killed by Israeli forces resembles photographs of its slain creator posted on social media after her killing.
Warning: Photos shows image of death
Survivor Ali Abu Ateila toldThe Associated Press that the café was crowded with women and children at the time of the attack.
"Without a warning, all of a sudden, a warplane hit the place, shaking it like an earthquake," he said.
Another survivor of the massacre told Britain's Sky News: "All I see is blood... Unbelievable. People come here to take a break from what they see inside Gaza. They come westward to breathe."
Eyewitness Ahmed Al-Nayrab toldAgence France-Presse that a "huge explosion shook the area."
"I saw body parts flying everywhere, and bodies cut and burned," he said. "It was a scene that made your skin crawl."
Witnesses and officials said Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) troops opened fire on Palestinians seeking food and other humanitarian aid from a U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution point in southern Gaza, killing 15 people amid near-daily massacres of aid-seekers.
"We were targeted by artillery," survivor Monzer Hisham Ismail told The Associated Press. Another survivor, Yousef Mahmoud Mokheimar, told the AP that Israeli troops "fired at us indiscriminately." Mokheimar was shot in the leg, another man who tried to rescue him was also shot.
IDF troops have killed nearly 600 Palestinian aid-seekers and wounded more than 4,000 others over the past month, with Israeli military officers and soldiers saying they were ordered to deliberately fire on civilians in search of food and other necessities amid Israel's weaponized starvation of Gaza.
Another 13 people were reportedly killed Monday when IDF warplanes bombed an aid warehouse in the Zeitoun quarter of southern Gaza City, according to al-Ahli Baptist Hospital officials cited by The Palestine Chronicle. IDF warplanes also reportedly bombed five schools housing displaced families, three of them in Zeitoun. Israeli forces also bombed the courtyard of al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, where thousands of forcibly displaced Palestinian families are sheltering in tents. It was reportedly the 12th time the hospital has been bombed since the start of the war.
The World Health Organization has documented more than 700 attacks on Gaza healthcare facilities since October 2023. Most of Gaza's hospitals are out of service due to Israeli attacks, some of which have been called genocidal by United Nations experts.
Israel's overall behavior in the war is the subject of an ongoing International Court of Justice genocide case, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including murder and using starvation as a weapon of war.
Since October 2023, Israeli forces have killed or wounded more than 204,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including over 14,000 people who are missing and presumed dead and buried under rubble, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, whose casualty figures have been found to be generally accurate and even a likely undercount by peer-reviewed studies.
The intensified IDF attacks follow Israel's issuance of new forced evacuation orders amid the ongoing Operation Gideon's Chariots, an ongoing offensive which aims to conquer and indefinitely occupy all of Gaza and ethnically cleanse much of its population, possibly to make way for Jewish recolonization as advocated by many right-wing Israelis.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular