During the parliamentary session in Strasbourg, the forthcoming Copenhagen climate change summit was at the fore. I wanted to use my opportunity to participate in the debate to emphasise the fact the Copenhagen Summit provides an occasion in which to gain international consensus on tackling climate change and global warming.
This was not to say however that at the Summit there will not be difficulties of course; take the US, the world’s biggest economy, which has failed to agree to certain greenhouse gas emission reductions for 2020 and the plethora of other developed industrialised nations that are uncertain as to whether the ambitious actions required are possible.
The EU has been courageous in setting ambitious targets for 2020 and 2050, but a major issue now is encouraging other nations to do the same. We cannot reach the targets set without the crucial cooperation of others. I warned against protectionist measures relating to CO2 emissions within the EU and emphasised the importance of an effective global carbon market. I wanted to draw attention to the fact that we must encourage developing nations to follow a different, less environmentally damaging path of industrialisation.
During the debate, the BNP and UKIP joined together to brand the topic of climate change as ‘an elite scam’ according to the BNP and something that is ‘a bogus hypothesis’ in UKIP’s opinion.
It is undeniable that climate change is an issue that is cannot be tackled at regional or national level; this is a transnational issue only to be properly addressed on a multinational global scale. Now is the time to go down a responsible green road to a brighter and sustainable future.
Comment by Chris Hossack on November 9, 2009 at 12:20 am
Please.
You bash the US, label the EU as courageous and fail to mention India and China’s responsibilities or likely response. Also, to imply that the BNP or UKIP are the only opponents to the man made global climate change phenomenon – you must think people are stupid. Man made global climate change (warming) is scientifically un proven.
Please tell me that as a British MEP rep to the EU you dont actually believe this nonsense? What hope have we?
Comment by J Piearcey on November 9, 2009 at 9:42 am
I f politicians are truly serious about climate change, why are the powers that be dropping bombs, firing bullets, planting mines , driving tanks, and attending world wide junkets, get real
Comment by Gary on November 9, 2009 at 11:03 am
Well done Sajjad, we’re all very proud of your work.
One area where the Conservatives are ahead of the game is on environmental policy in regard to rural communities, farming practices and countryside management.
This may be just as important to tackling climate change as reduction of energy emissions and it is an area that Labour has totally neglected!
Comment by Steve in Harrogate on November 9, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Well Karim as Chris has pointed out man made climate change is an unproven hypothesis. It is a global scam perpetuated by leftist Marxists wishing to rip us off for their own financial gain. To try and brand good loyal conservatives who oppose the idea of man made climate change with the BNP and UKIP is a disgrace. Hang your head in shame.
Comment by Peter Palmer on November 9, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Please read the SPPI (Science & Public Policy Institue) reports. They are freely available on the ‘net.
There is no good science to back the claims of impending climate doom.
Since 1998 the planet has cooled. Whilst the Arctic ice cover has retreated, the Antarctic ice volume has grown significantly. The science shows that the green industry is based on falsehoods and misinformation.
That the climate is constantly changing there is no doubt. That it is man-made is nonsense.
The plans to give vast sums to developing countries to employ “green” energy are crazy. This will complete the bankruptcy of the UK and achieve nothing (other than to provide new jets and palaces to dodgy leaders, no doubt).
Please, please don’t go further down this track without checking out all, and I do mean all, of the facts.
Comment by Canada Guy on November 11, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Everyone knows that preventing climate change, or at least the worst consequences of it, is not going to be easy. While the task required is large and difficult, there are some simple, quick, and easy fixes that can make a real difference, and perhaps even buy us more time. But they are being ignored.
http://www.selfdestructivebastards.com/2009/11/low-hanging-fruit.html
Comment by Peter Buckingham on November 27, 2009 at 9:08 pm
Everybody is missing the point! Climate change & most other problems around (air pollution, congestion, disease etc are being caused by human overpopulation! The vegetarians ( Sir Paul McCartney etc) would have us kill millions of cows, pigs, sheep etc because they are the problem. But they are only here to feed the almost 7 billion of us.