EU technology institute to target climate change

The European Institute of Technology can help the EU lead the fight against climate change, José Manuel Barroso said on October 18.

“Climate change is probably the most important problem of our time,” the commission president said as he unveiled plans for the EIT. “The EIT could help to address this.”

The commission hopes the EIT will be up and running by 2008, if it gets the backing of the member states and European parliament. 

The project will be discussed by EU leaders during their October 20 summit in Lahti, Finland. 

The proposed institute would take the form of a network of “knowledge and innovation communities” in universities, research organisations and businesses.

These communities will bid for EIT funding for research projects, under the supervision of a governing board made up of 60 scientific and support staff, and Barroso is clearly keen to see many of these projects focusing on climate-related issues.

Climate change is increasingly high on the European commission’s agenda, with growing evidence that industrialisation and pollution are leading to global warming.

The EU is a signatory to the Kyoto protocol, and the commission took several member states to task in April over their failure to implement EU legislation on climate change.

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