EC President Calls For Carbon Cooperation

The European Commission (EC) needs to find new ways to promote carbon markets while increasing technological innovations if it wants to avert an energy crisis, European Commission president Jose Manuel Baroso said at the opening of the World Energy Congress in Rome today.

Speaking to an audience including Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, Baroso highlighted the need to increase EU cooperation outside of its borders to help promote new energy emission restrictions.

"Burying our heads in the sand will cost us dear," Baroso says.

"The continuation of current trends is not sustainable if we want to preserve the world's climate - we have to act urgently and we must push for robust, efficient policies."

Baroso says the 13th UN Climate Change Conference, to be held in Bali in December, will be important in laying the groundwork for what is being dubbed a new Kyoto Protocol, which is to be rolled out by 2012.

"There is a consensus already to limit global warming to two percent below pre-industrial levels," Baroso says.

Developing nations will be expected to commit to reductions within reason, or at least to take on "sensible policies” in regards to energy production and carbon emissions depending on the intensity of their growth.

"This [the current situation] is a wakeup call to the world - we have to act now and urgently," Baroso says.

Baroso says as the world's biggest importer of energy and the world's second largest consumer, the EU has to take the lead with a new carbon market if it wants to commit to a low-carbon energy future.

"Moving to a more cooperative market is always a challenge but the rewards of success are high - real consumer choice, fairer prices and greater stability in energy efficiency as smaller companies gain access to the energy market," Baroso says.

A carbon market represents a value of €20bn to the EC, according to Baroso.

Plans for a truly competitive market will include improved investments in power plants and transmission networks.

An ideal market would consist of a strong network of operations based on independently run and competitive systems which will be open to international players who, in Baroso's words, "play by the same game".

"Competition is of course the name of the game when we talk about the market in Europe," Baroso says.

Nations such as the US, Canada, New Zealand and Norway have already committed to a carbon market and Baroso says he hopes more developing nations can eventually be included in this group, as larger players work with these nations to help develop new technologies for them to manage growth.

The maritime transport sector will also require help - it currently measures as the fastest growing emitter of greenhouse gases, a cause of concern for Baroso and the EC.

By Penny Jones