Ministers also address ILUC; Post-2015 Development agenda; Environment Impact Assessment; F-Gases and Access and Benefit Sharing.
Luxembourg 18 April:
Ministers attending today’s Environment Council held discussions on three key areas: The EU Climate Adaptation Strategy, the ‘ILUC’ (Impacts of Indirect Land-Use Change) proposal and Rio plus 20.
Speaking in Luxembourg today, the Irish Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Mr. Phil Hogan, who chaired the Council said of the adoption of Council Conclusions on the Climate Adaptation Strategy that "it is a very positive step forward in EU climate policy, demonstrating a progressive and coherent response to adaptation at EU level and across the Member States." He added that "it will also have a very positive impact on the general level of awareness of climate change, not just among policy makers and the key sectors concerned, but also, more generally, with our citizens."
The Council also took note of a progress report on Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) proposal, in particular, the 5% threshold for conventional biofuels, ILUC factors, treatment of new installations, the bonus for degraded land, fraud prevention, the review clause and delegated acts. The Minister noted that "Member States generally support the aim of tackling the global occurrence of indirect land-use change resulting from the production of biofuels that compete with food and feed. However, some Member States are concerned about a policy shift that could create uncertainty among investors, jeopardise existing investments and render the achievement of the existing EU renewables objectives more costly and challenging. Finding an acceptable and workable balance between the objective of the proposal and the concerns expressed by Member States will require considerable further work".
Following on from the Rio plus 20 Conference on Sustainable Development, the Council also endorsed Conclusions on the post-2015 framework. "These Conclusions have been prepared in cooperation with colleagues across environment, development and foreign affairs work streams. The post-2015 agenda will require input from a broad range of stakeholders, and this recent joint-working initiative is a strong foundation on which to continue our efforts in this regard" the Minister said.
The Council also discussed the recent report of the High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the post-2015 development agenda. There was broad support for the report and in particular its emphasis on the need to ensure that the three dimensions of sustainable development – environmental, economic and social – are at the heart of the post-2015 agenda. Ministers also considered the report’s call for a fundamental shift in the global approach to economic development towards sustained, long-term, inclusive growth and highlighted the importance of the transition to the green economy in addressing unemployment, resource scarcity and adaptation to climate change.
The Council also took note of progress reports on F-gases, Environmental Impact Assessment and Access and Benefit Sharing which will be taken forward by the Lithuanian Presidency.
Over lunch, the Council, joined by the Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik and Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki, had an exchange of views on progress on implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. "The purpose of our discussion today was to take stock of progress to date, to look ahead and to consider how the Directive links to other EU policies" said the Minister.