Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
to develop a more uni
in recent years. It
has made much progress in doing so. In this nascent external energy policy, a
comprehensive de
ed and e
ective
'
external energy policy
'
nition of climate security is said to be integral to traditional
security of supply concerns. But, has the EU
s energy security policy really given
such a positive prompt to climate security? With so much focus now on the
potential development of shale gas, does the climate security agenda still have
the same meaning and resonance? In relation to both these ostensible linkages
the chapter
'
nds as many grounds for arguing that longer-standing, core EU
policies
-
climate and energy, respectively
-
detract from as much as they con-
tribute to e
ective strategies for climate security.
A climate change leader?
In many respects, the EU is justi
ed in claiming to be a climate change leader.
Germanwatch
'
s 2012 climate change performance index placed six EU member
states
in
its top ten most committed countries worldwide.
1
Progress has been made on each
of the EU
-
in order, Sweden, the UK, Germany, Denmark, France and Belgium
-
-
ciency. The IEA has reported that most member states are on track to meet their
target to have 20 per cent of their energy generated from renewables by 2020;
two-thirds of new generating capacity in the EU now comes from renewable
sources; and most of the growth in renewable energy still comes from Europe,
even during the current economic crisis.
2
On emissions, the more ambitious target
of securing 80 per cent reductions by 2050 has come to dominate policy delib-
erations. The EU agreed a new energy e
'
s
agship
'
20/20/20
'
commitments: renewables, emissions and e
ciency directive in June 2012, which
came into force in December 2012. It sets e
ciency targets within public pro-
curement rules. The EU has the lowest
of all regions (measured
as energy supply per unit of gross domestic product (GDP)) and the highest
demand for renewable energy.
3
Low carbon technology now represents a
'
energy intensity
'
300 billion market and provides
employment to over 3 million workers in Europe. The Commission has sup-
ported over a dozen large-scale pilot projects on carbon capture and storage
(CCS). The 2009 EU Energy Programme for Recovery committed
€
4 billion of
investment in infrastructure and interconnections, alongside renewable projects.
Of this total,
€
rst licence for the commercial
implementation of a CCS project was granted in France in 2011. In 2010, the
European Investment Bank (EIB) channelled a record
€
1 billion went to CCS projects. A
19 billion of credits to
low carbon initiatives, a 20 per cent increase from 2009 and two-thirds of all EIB
loans in Europe. Across all its various budget lines, by 2011 the Commission was
putting over
€
€
1 billion into
'
frontier
'
low carbon research and development.
4
