Save energy... save money!
Today, the EU institutions - the Council, the Commission and the European Parliament - have their final `trialogue discussions` to try and strike a deal on the Energy Efficiency Directive. If all goes well and they come to an agreement, EU energy ministers could sign off the deal soon after.
Green Rapporteur Claude Turmes has underlined several times all the benefits that the EU could gain from an ambitious directive on energy efficiency.
On 11th June, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released a new publication demonstrating that a strong energy efficiency sector is vital for developing renewables, key to energy security, effective at reducing carbon emissions, and could generate trillions in savings. IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven has also called for ����bold policy���� action by European governments - who have been standing in the way of a strong directive and putting Europe at risk of wasting more energy and money. The economic benefits for Europe would be huge and particularly so in the current context of crisis.
At the beginning of this week, Green NGOs Can-Europe and Friends of the Earth Europe launched a petition to push the whole Union to make decisions that will benefit European citizens and protect their welfare and the environment instead of trying to water down the existing text. The call was particularly targeted at Spain, UK, Germany, Poland, France, and Italy, which are undermining the directive by opposing the inclusion of binding targets as well as the obligations for energy companies to invest in energy efficiency measures that would deliver at least 1.5% cumulative energy savings per year.
Our economy has been based on fossil fuels for years but this system is clearly no longer viable, nor sustainable. The EU must look to its future and show that it is ready to transform its energy system for good. It must send the right signal to encourage widespread and in-depth development of green technologies and the behavioural change that we urgently need to reduce our energy bills and carbon dioxide emissions. And if the EU is bold enough to be a real energy hero, there is no doubt that it will then be able to act as a serious climate leader too!