European Union leaders meeting in Brussels have agreed on a new target
for the reduction of greenhouse gases by 2030. Members also reached a
deal on increasing the proportion of renewable energy used.
European Union leaders have reached what they described as the
world's most ambitious climate change targets for 2030, paving the way
for a new UN-backed global treaty next year.
The 28 leaders on Friday finally overcame divisions at an EU summit
in Brussels to reach a deal including a commitment to cut greenhouse gas
emissions by at least 40 percent compared to 1990 levels.
They also agreed on 27 percent targets for renewable energy supply
and efficiency gains, despite of reservations from some member states
about the cost of the measures.
"Deal! At least 40 percent emissions cut by 2030. World's most
ambitious, cost-effective, fair EU 2030 climate energy policy agreed,"
EU president Herman Van Rompuy tweeted.
The EU wanted to agree on the targets ahead of a summit in Paris in
November and December 2015, where it is hoped the world will agree to a
new phase of the Kyoto climate accords which run until 2020.
The agreement puts the EU "in the driving seat" ahead of the Paris
conference, European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso said.
Environmental groups said the deal did not go far enough to cut global warming.
The climate deal builds on the EU's targets for 2020 of a 20 percent
cut in greenhouse gases, blamed for global warming, a 20 percent boost
in renewables such as solar and wind power and a 20 increase in energy
efficiency.
While the new 40 percent target for greenhouse gases and 27 percent
for renewables agreed on Friday were as expected, a 30 percent goal for
an increase in energy efficiency set in July by the Commission was
watered down to 27 percent.
Environment group Greenpeace said the EU had "pulled the handbrake on clean energy".
"These targets are too low, slowing down efforts to boost renewable
energy and keeping Europe hooked on polluting and expensive fuel," it
said British-based humanitarian group Oxfam called for targets of 55
percent in emissions cuts, 40 percent for energy savings and 45 percent
for renewables.
Individual concerns
The talks stretched into the early hours on Friday as Poland made the
case for protections for its coal industry. Other states also sought to
tweak the guideline text on global warming to protect economic interests
regarding issues such as nuclear power and cross-border power lines.
An existing goal that envisaged a 20-percent cut by 2020 is already
close to being met, in no small part as a result of the collapse of
communist-era industry in Eastern Europe since 1990.
The agreement comes ahead of a global summit in Paris next year, which
will involve industrial powers from Asia, North America and the rest of
the world.
Source : ALJAZEERA
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World oil prices dropped to their lowest levels in more than a year
Thursday as Saudi Arabia, one of the world's largest oil producers,
showed no signs of cutting its production to ease the glut in the global
supply.
Riyadh earlier in the week cuts its official crude oil selling price
for the fourth month in a row, signaling it is looking to keep its world
market share and compete on pricing with other big producers.
The price for Brent crude from the North Sea fell to as low as $91.55
a barrel, it lowest point since June 2012, before recovering by more
than $2 a barrel.
A sweet grade of oil traded in the United States, West Texas
Intermediate, dropped below $90 a barrel, its lowest point since April
2013, although it marginally recovered in later trading on November
contracts.
Analysts predict oil prices could fall further as long as production in major drilling areas across the world is not trimmed.
World oil prices have been falling for several months as Libyan oil
production has resumed and the value of the U.S. dollar is at a
four-year high against other currencies. The strong U.S. dollar makes
oil more expensive for weaker currencies, which in turn cuts demand for
oil.
Recent turmoil across the Middle East has scrambled long-held political
alliances among some of the group’s most important members. The U.S.
shale-oil boom is robbing OPEC of one of its best customers and
contributing to a glut of non-OPEC oil sloshing into world markets. And
breakneck economic growth in Asia—which buoyed oil prices amid downturns
in the U.S. and Europe—is slowing.
All of this has helped drive global prices
sharply lower since the summer. In the past, OPEC has typically moved
collectively—in such situations to boost prices, either slashing output
or threatening to do so. Many inside and outside the organization doubt
whether the group can do much amid its current disarray.
The
drop in prices is particularly worrying for OPEC producers in Latin
America and Africa that depend on oil revenue to support high spending,
as well as Iran, where trade is crimped by international sanctions.
Lower
prices may not worry many Western nations. Industrialized oil-consuming
countries have long criticized OPEC as acting to keep crude prices high
to line OPEC governments’ coffers.
But
the OPEC disunity also threatens a global safety net. OPEC members—which
pump more than a third of the world’s daily supply—have acted in the
past to keep a lid on prices amid big supply disruptions, as they did
ahead of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
OPEC
members are sitting on unused pumping capacity of some 3.8 million
barrels a day, equivalent to 4% of global oil supplies, according to the
International Energy Agency—spare capacity that could generally be
called upon quickly in a pinch.
“If there is a supply crisis, OPEC is the only group that can stand up and respond,” said
John Hall,
chairman of British consultancy Alfa Energy.
As
the boom in U.S. oil production has curbed American fuel imports, OPEC
members have relied more on customers in Asia. But with growth in Asia’s
economies and oil demand leveling off, OPEC members have started
competing against each other for market share, often leading to price
competition.
Last month, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait both cut
their October prices for Asian buyers, according to Gulf oil officials
and traders, effectively undercutting the U.A.E., a Persian Gulf
neighbor and fellow OPEC member. In the past, such cuts would have been
taken collectively among Arab Gulf OPEC members.
“There
is a price war within OPEC,” said
Amy Myers Jaffe,
executive director of energy and sustainability at the Graduate
School of Management at the University of California, Davis. “It is the
most fractured I have ever seen OPEC.”
Like the situation in the US, falling oil prices are also a double-edged sword
for Britain’s economy and investors. Although George Osborne, the
Chancellor, is less reliant on tax revenues from the North Sea than some of
his predecessors, prices are approaching the point when many of the
developments planned offshore west of Shetland by international oil
companies could be placed on ice.
A sharp drop-off in domestic oil production and associated tax receipts from
the North Sea would give Mr Osborne an unwelcome hole to fill in the
government’s public finances heading into next year’s general election.
However, falling oil prices will help to keep inflation low.
For Britain’s motorists the current declines have been good news that has
trickled through to the price of petrol on forecourts. A litre of unleaded
petrol in the UK has fallen a few pence over the past month to an average of
around 127.21p on average, a figure last seen in 2011, just before Mr
Osborne raised the value added tax on fuel to 20pc, from 17.5pc
