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Commission disappoints on green growth strategy
"There is a lack of precision in the language, in what is the real definition of smarter, greener growth," WWF's European director Tony Long told ENDS on Friday. Green growth initiatives by the OECD and the UN's environment programme are more detailed and compelling, he pointed out. Several other stakeholders, including outside the environmental movement, share this view. Some of their opinions are reflected in consultation responses published by the Council of Ministers earlier this week. The EU-2020 consultation was launched by the commission in November. The "beyond GDP" concept of supplementing data on economic growth with environmental and social indicators is absent. "This larger and deeper concept of well-being should be the driver to renew our development model" says Maria João Rodrigues, an architect of the original Lisbon strategy. There is no reference to the goal of cutting emissions by 80-95% by 2050, which should be framing the new strategy, a Brussels-based consultant told ENDS. Meeting this goal requires concrete commitments today, such as developing a super-smart grid, he said. Another crucial missing element is a reference to the rural and marine sectors, biodiversity and ecosystems, according to Mr Long. "These are some of the most pressing issues of our time and for them not to be reflected… is completely strange and unacceptable," he said. The OECD is taking these issues into account in its own green growth dialogue launched in June last year, Mr Long continued. And there is greener thinking in the UNEP initiative and national economies, China's economic stimulus package for example. Several sources told ENDS the consultation document appeared to have been drawn up in isolation from other major policy initiatives. One said it had been written by commission president José Manuel Barroso's department with little input from other departments. The strategy will be debated at an informal summit of EU leaders in Brussels next Thursday, when new European Council president Herman Van Rompuy and Mr Barroso will both give their thoughts on what should be in it. The commission is due to present a formal proposal on 3 March.
This article is reproduced with kind permission of ENDS Europe DAILY .
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