By Martha Moss - 23rd May 2011
The days when we believed that growth and environmental protection are mutually exclusive are over
European environment commissioner Janez Potocnik
European environment commissioner Janez Potocnik has suggested that environmental taxes could help secure green growth and a more sustainable economy.
The Slovenian official was among the contributors to the Parliament Magazine's special issue on Green Week, which begins in Brussels tomorrow.
"Shifting the burden of taxation from labour towards resource use or environmental impacts would push our economies in the right direction," he writes.
Calling for the more effective use of "market-based instruments", he says, "The days when we believed that growth and environmental protection are mutually exclusive are over.
"Today we can conclude that resource efficiency actually means business and that it already contributes towards job creation on a large-scale."
"As the world recovers from financial and economic turmoil, we must look beyond a focus purely on jobs and growth," Potocnik adds.
Jo Leinen, the chair of parliament's environment, public health and food safety committee, uses his article to stress the need for an effective waste strategy.
With EU waste laws calling for a binding recycling target of 50 per cent for waste materials (such as paper, metals and glass from households) by 2020, he says, it is "imperative that member states implement the necessary waste management plans and waste prevention programmes".
"A comprehensive strategy that combines energy efficiency and better resource productivity is necessary," he adds.
For European climate action commissioner Connie Hedegaard, global catastrophes such as flooding in Australia, the earthquake in Japan and even the unrest in the Middle East highlight the need for "more ambitious climate action".
"The world needs a more sustainable growth model, a model which uses less resources and energy," the Danish commissioner writes.
She also speaks of the "huge economic and innovation potential" of green growth, which can boost European competitiveness in the globalised economy.
She adds, "In order to keep our leading position in the green growth race, Europe must invest now in clean technologies, better energy infrastructure and research and innovation. Our actions today have to reflect the kind of society we want tomorrow."
Elsewhere, Mercedes Bresso, the president of the Committee of the Regions, is calling on the EU to make a "real commitment" to involving local and regional authorities in implementing resource efficiency measures.
"We want to see EU funds - structural funds, CAP spending, research investments - made more conditional on resource efficiency and the wider green agenda," she writes.
