30/01/2014 Session
PACE has proposed a “comprehensive and ambitious” international agreement to tackle climate change by 2015, in which individual countries would pass climate laws to move towards a global target, and report progress to the UN.
In a resolution based on a report by John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), the Assembly said a new international body should be established as part of any agreement, to report annually on progress.
PACE said the agreement should aim to include:
• reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 per cent by 2030, and by at least 50 per cent by 2050, relative to 1990 levels
• international rules and mechanisms for emissions trading
• assistance to developing countries to help them adapt to climate change
In a separate resolution on energy diversification, based on a report by Doris Barnett (Germany, SOC), the Assembly made a plea for greater use of the cleanest and most abundant energy sources – notably renewals.
It also called for stepped up research to develop cleaner alternatives to hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”, and measures to protect health and the environment in exploiting shale gas and oil.
Nuclear energy “will remain part of Europe’s energy landscape” but requires stricter safety risk policies and long-term solutions for waste management, the parliamentarians said.