Monday, 1st July 2013
To: Members of the European Parliament
Brussels
Dear Member of the European Parliament
What MEPs should be debating instead of backloading
As you prepare to vote again on the proposal to backload 900 million permits from the EU ETS, 42 organisations, movements and networks are sending the message that this debate is a distraction from the real policies that are currently determining our energy, and thus, climate policy in the EU.
Voting for or against the backloading makes no difference to the climate, since the EU ETS has failed to lower structural emissions these past eight years, and is structurally incapable of doing so. Critical attention should instead be put to the decisions being made on EU energy policy and large scale infrastructure that will have a massive impact on the climate. Such decisions will expose EU citizens to bear the cost of unsustainable projects that will lock Europe in fossil fuel and financial markets dependency.
Harmful policies should be turned around, and replaced with positive regulations that reduce energy consumption, favor participatory processes in decision making and encourage sustainable, decentralised, renewable energy.
If you are serious about tackling climate change, this is what the plenary should be debating. In comparison to the impact these decisions will have, the backloading vote is a mere distraction.
Please find enclosed a two-page statement with what we believe are genuine measures to tackle climate change. We ask you to consider the arguments outlined in the attached document and we would welcome to meet with you and discuss why we consider the EU ETS as an obstacle to avoiding runaway climate change.
Sincerely,