|
|
|
MIPIGGS special October newsletter - F-Gas vote "global warming will get worse" The European Parliament opted in a Second Reading vote on Wednesday on the f-gas Directive to heed the industry line and voted down measures designed to curb their use and emission. In doing so MEPs from all countries overturned proposals by the Parliament's Environment Committee which had been hailed as a "victory in the battle for the environment" by Greenpeace International earlier this month. Amongst the 20 or so amendments passed by the Parliament, MEPs backed calls for clearer labelling requirements for equipment containing f-gases and to require member states to have new containment requirements for f-gases in non-mobile air conditioning and mobile refrigeration by 31 December 2007. MIPIGGs co-ordinator Chris Rose said: "Following Avril Doyle's lead in strengthening the draft f-gas regulation, MEPs had an historic opportunity to curb climate change at source. They blew it and have guaranteed that global warming will get worse. They could have kick started a major sector of sustainable business - the non-f-gas technologies are already on the market. Now we have a re-run of the CFC disaster, again foisted on the world by the lobbying of the fluorocarbon industry, this time with HFCs screwing up the climate instead of the ozone layer. We already know 'containment' is a figment of the policy makers' imagination: it hasn't worked, isn't working and and it won't work. MEPs should be ashamed." Last week, Rose called on the UK Liberal Democrats, specifically Chris Davies MEP to "support the Doyle draft, with no delays to bans on f-gases, an Environment legal basis and to support improvements on mobile air conditioning". The vote for the regulation to be placed entirely on an environment legal basis was lost although Chris Davies and other MEPs are to be congratulated for voting for this amendment. However, Mr Davies and other Lib Dem MEPs voted against other key amendments (26, 35, 36 and 41) proposed by the environment committee. Please see below for complete analysis. For most of the key amendments apart from amendment 1 and amendment 34 (which called f-gases to be banned in domestic fridges, 4 years after entry into force of this regulation), the Liberal Democrats voted against, along with the UK Tories and UK Labour MEPs. The two UK Greens voted for all the key amendments. UK Green Caroline Lucas MEP, a member of the Parliament's Environment Committee said by voting against further restrictions on F-gases MEPs had "prioritised the interests of the chemical industry over tackling climate change" Greenpeace International said "The Parliament has put the climate crisis second to the short-term, profit-driven interests of the chemicals industry, which has fought relentlessly to undermine a phase-out of these greenhouse gases. MEPs ignored evidence that alternatives to fluorinated gases are widely available and fully functional. It is deeply distressing to see propaganda triumph over reason." Voting analysis The key amendments proposed by Avril Doyle, the Rapporteur to the Environment Committee were: Am 1: is the Art 175, environment, as the only legal basis Am 1 Am 26 Am 34 Am 35 Am 36 For further information contact: secretary@mipiggs.org |
 |