Civil society groups urge European Parliament to forget about backloading and call for a phase-out of fossil fuels

Ahead of the backloading vote at the European Parliament that will take place tomorrow, a coalition of 42 civil society organisations released a statement today rejecting the EU ETS, which they say is entrenching fossil fuel use in the EU. They call for MEP attention to be re-directed urgently toward genuine measures to tackle climate change, including a phase-out of fossil fuels.

The signatories list some urgent priorities for action on climate change, including working toward a European ban on fracking projects, phasing out public subsidies for fossil fuel exploration and use, and supporting a full phase-out of fossil fuel use. The statement calls for structural changes in consumption and production as well as supporting small-scale, locally-owned and governed sustainable energy initiatives.

The organisations supporting this statement say it is time to stop fixating on a “right” carbon price as a way to reduce emissions. The EU ETS needs to be scrapped to implement effective and fair climate policies.

A major concern raised in the statement which deservers more Parliamentary attention is a recent piece of regulation[1] that fast-tracks over 200 trans-European energy infrastructure projects, including pipelines and other infrastructure for transporting gas, transboundary electricity lines and carbon dioxide transport. These new regulations and innovative financial mechanisms like the Europe 2020 project bond initiative will have an adverse effect on local communities and the environment, and will lock the EU into another round of fossil-fueled energy generation that the planet cannot afford.

Read our entire assessment of Europe’s focus on infrastructure in our latest briefing paper on the matter: “Large infrastructure to overcome the crisis? The hidden risks of the Europe 2020 project bond initiative”.

[1] Regulation 347/2013, passed on the 17^th of April.