By Jean-Didier Hache - 15th December 2008
The passage of the EU’s energy-climate package through the European parliament has attracted considerable attention from all quarters, not least from some of the most powerful lobbies in Europe, be they representing energy producers, heavy industries, airlines or environmental organisations.
But it has also attracted strong attention from the regional authorities, and in particular those of Europe’s maritime regions, represented by the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR), which comprises some 160 such regions.
This is hardly surprising, for should the consequences of climate change take a turn for the worse, coastal areas will be amongst the most badly exposed. According to location and circumstances, they could be rapidly faced with problems ranging from flooding to severe drought, the extinction of fragile ecosystems, or the collapse of whole sectors of their economies.
Needless to say, the CPMR has expressed its full support for the package, and hopes that it will successfully complete its passage through parliament without losing any of its substance.
However, the environmental aspect of the package is not the only reason behind the CPMR’s interest, for the proposed legislation will also have major consequences in another, and hitherto little-mentioned, area: its territorial dimension.
Many of the proposed measures will affect Europe’s various territories in many ways, affecting people’s living conditions or changing economic opportunities. And whilst some changes may be highly beneficial, others may prove a source of difficulty, especially for the most isolated and vulnerable communities.
To quote but a few examples, the imposition of binding targets in renewable energy production will certainly favour those areas which have a high potential for onshore or offshore wind power, wave power, solar power, or areas that can produce a high volume of biomass.
In that respect, the way Europe develops its electricity grid in the coming years will prove instrumental, and so should the mechanism allowing the transfer of guarantees of origin.
On the other hand, the inclusion of air and, in the future, sea transport in the EU’s emissions trading system will affect travel costs and the accessibility of remoter parts of the EU.
Failing major technological improvements, a sharp increase in the price of emission allowances could have serious repercussions for residents and the tourist economy alike in Europe’s islands and outermost regions, since they are totally dependent on such means of transportation.
Another point is that many measures outlined in the package will have to be dealt with at local and regional level.
Energy savings and greenhouse gas reductions will require the active involvement of local authorities simply because of the role they play in the management of vast housing and vehicle stocks, in public procurement procedures and not to mention in education and information about climate change.
Fostering renewable energy will often fall within their remit because of planning procedures, or through the support they may give to new schemes.
But, in the end, and as always, money will be the key factor. Meeting the package’s objectives, upgrading the European electricity grid and financing adaptation measures will be tremendously expensive for everyone, including regional and local authorities.
However, it is likely that, should the ETS directive be approved, the revenues arising from the auctioning of emission allowances will also be considerable.
In fact, they may rise progressively well above the resources of the present structural funds budget, and if this money is targeted to energy and climate change purposes, its territorial impact for EU regions will be far from neutral.
In that respect, the CPMR considers that the energy-climate package should not be viewed in isolation from other EU policies; it should be closely associated with the goals of furthering the EU’s economic, social and territorial cohesion.
Last but not least, it may be worth pointing out that the emphasis placed by parliament on the need to support developing countries in their bid to tackle climate change issues has already been echoed at regional level, as the Saint-Malo conference on regions tackling climate change clearly showed.
Within the EU or beyond its borders, there is a broad agreement that the scope of regional action is critical and necessary for the development and implementation of sustainable development policies and strategies and, particularly, in relation to mitigation and adaptation measures and policies to tackle climate change.
