Spanish Government Wish To Promote Coal Power
The Spanish Government has approved a decree promoting domestic coal, in a bid to protect mining employment and increase levels of energy security. The law must however recieve EU approval before it can be implemented.
The Spanish National Energy and Competition comissions warned that it could boost the power sectors emissions by 20%, distort the whole market and break EU competition laws. The Spanish government is using a law put in place in 1997, that allows a limited preference to be shown to domestic fuel sources.
There had been a 21% fall in the Spanish energy sectors emissions in 2009, due to coal generation being down 30%, competition from renewables increasing and an overall drop in electricity usage in line with the economic slow down.
The European Commission competition department have confirmed that no proposal has yet been tabled.
EU leaders Run Out Of Time To Discuss Climate Change
European leaders in Brussels on Thursday ran out of time to discuss the future of the EU in regard to international climate negotiations. The meetings were focused on the financial situation in Greece and the post Lisbon strategy to increase employment and growth levels.
Herman Van Rompuy , the President of the EU Council, has made a staement saying that climate will be placed at the top of the agenda for the next meeting of European leaders in March.
Commission President Barroso has commented that plans for economic growth and employment strategies had been widly accepted, although there are reports that several stakeholders were unhappy with sufficient focus being given to 'green growth'.
On Wednesday the EU Parliament had adopted a resolution calling for a greater than 20% emission cut by 2020, despite no big emitters showing any interest in the offer of 30%.
UN Panel Formed To Speen up Climate Finance Negotiations
The panel will be headed up by the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. The advisory panel will deal with the issue of raising the $100m annual donation for developing countries to tackle climate change, by 2020. One way of raising the money would be through a global tax on financial transactions, something that French, UK, German and Ethiopian and many other developing nations, leaders support.
The advisory panel will present the ideas at the Mexico climate summit later in 2010.