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Europe Climate
Change Effects
Germany Adopts Home Measures
And Tests Joint Implementation
Internationally, at the Berlin Climate Conference Germany sought an agreement that would bind signatories to specific emissions reduction goals within a clear time limit. The Berlin Mandate failed to include this measure, but it will be taken up at the COP3 meeting in Kyoto in 1997.
Germany also "pays particular attention" to Activities Implemented Jointly, according to Otto Graf, first secretary for Science, Technology and the Environment of the German Embassy. A pilot phase has been set up to test the effectiveness of this instrument designed to reduce emission goals at the lowest possible cost.
Dutch White Paper Urges
Immediate Worldwide Action
Fossil fuel prices may remain low, and renew-ables will have only a small share of energy use for decades in the Netherlands and Europe, according to a Third White Paper on energy policy prepared by the Dutch government. Only in those scenarios that are optimistic about technology and that take account of ecological considerations will CO2 emissions be reduced. All scenarios see CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere still rising in 2050, with the climate already changing. Therefore, immediate worldwide response is essential, and Dutch energy policy must be ambitious and realistic, said Bert Metz, deputy director for Air and Energy of the Netherlands Ministry of the Environment.
UK Panel Looks at Ways Financial
Community Can Boost Solar Energy
"Britain will meet the Climate Convention of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2000," Sir Crispin Tickell asserted. Sir Crispin is Convenor of the British Government Panel on Sustainable Development. He attributed this success to the switch from coal to gas and "to some extent the current economic recession." For the future, the government is committed to increasing petrol prices on a continuing basis by five percent more than inflation.
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