Vanhanen: Forest industry “reasonably satisfied” with EU climate package

Industry welcomes compromise, environmentalists speak of “greenwash”

Satu Hassi

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The climate package of the European Union is expected to bring higher electricity bills for Finns, and major investments in renewable energy.
     “Everyone will pay the bill”, said Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) on Friday, after difficult and complicated negotiations at the EU summit in Brussels.
     
Representatives of industry were the most happy with the results of the summit. Both the metal and forest industry will get much of their emissions free of charge.
     Vanhanen said that he had heard that the forest industry is “reasonably satisfied” with the outcome.
     Other member states also promoted the interests of their industry. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi boasted that he had achieved nearly all of his goals at the meeting.
     German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a key advocate of the package, kept a lower profile.
     
Finnish households will see the results of the outcome in the form of higher electricity bills before long.
     According to Vanhanen, this is better than letting the climate heat up.
     The government now hopes that the improvement of energy efficiency contained in the package will ease the monetary impact on individual consumers.
     
Raising the use of renewable sources of energy to one fifth of total consumption by 2020, should force the whole EU to invest heavily in renewable energy.
     The previous goal was an even more ambitious 38 per cent. Calculated in the short term, the investment will not bring profits.
     According to Vanhanen’s calculations, Finland will have to increase its use of renewable energy over the next 12 years by an amount that is equivalent to the total output of the country’s four, (soon to be five) commercial nuclear reactors.
      “This is for the benefit of both employment and the environment”, he said.
     
EU Presidency-holder France had to hone the final version of the EU’s climate and energy package so that all 27 member states could find it acceptable.
     Each country had its own major issues, and all EU leaders wanted to return home as winners.
     On the practical level this means that the extensive legislative package turned into a complicated set of compromises, with new elements constantly being added.
     The main goal - cutting carbon dioxide emissions by one fifth b y 1990, was nevertheless adhered to.
     
The most resilient negotiators were the new member states of Central and Eastern Europe.
     The old member states ultimately agreed to the demands of the new members, granting them more emission rights.
     The package now goes before the European Parliament, where Prime Minister Vanhanen does not anticipate any problems in getting the measure passed.
     
Reaction from Finnish industry was largely positive, while environmental advocates were more critical.
      Helena Vänskä of the Confederation of Finnish Industry (EK) was pleased that all of the most important sectors of Finland’s basic industry - the forest industry, the chemical industry, metallurgy, and production of cement and lime are getting free emission rights through 2013.
     Vänskä was concerned, however, of the danger, of possible ambiguities in the interpretation of the agreement, hoped that they would be clarified in the final version of the directive.
     
The environmental group Greenpeace saw the result as a complete dilution of original intentions, and urged the European Parliament to vote it down.
     Greenpeace’s Lauri Myllyvirta said in a press release that the package hands out free emission rights recklessly, allowing member states to avoid all actions at home by acquiring emission rights from questionable projects in developing countries.
     Green MEP Satu Hassi said that this time, the EU did not show exemplary leadership. In her view, in a pinch, the EU leaders seem to fear reduced emissions more than climate change. She sees the final reasult as an example of a “skilful greenwash”.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  EU summit: Vanhanen expects Finnish forest industry to be granted free emission rights (12.12.2008)
  Pekkarinen: EU climate package progresses well for Finland (9.12.2008)

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