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As the world decries Donald Trumps decision to quit the Paris pact,greenhouse gas releases rise in Europe for first time since 2010

BERLIN A new report showed greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union rose in 2015, the first increase since 2010, even as European officials decried the United States decision to quit a global climate pact.

Emissions grew by 0.5 percent compared with 2014, mainly due to increases from transportation and a colder winter, the European Environment Agency said.

Greenhouse gases are a major contributor to man-made climate change and most countries around the world have pledged to reduce emissions under the 2015 Paris Agreement.

The report was released as the EU is trying to emphasise its commitment to combatting global warming, with senior European officials appealing unsuccessfully to US President Donald Trump not to quit the Paris accord.

The former reality TV star announced from Washington yesterday that the United States would be quitting the Paris accord, before declaring that under the Trump administration it will continue to be the cleanest and most environmentally friendly country on earth, a claim that experts immediately ridiculed.

Higher emissions were caused mainly by increasing road transport, both passenger and freight, and slightly colder winter conditions in Europe, compared to 2014, leading to higher demand for heating, the European Environment Agency said.

It noted that improvements in fuel efficiency failed to offset the growth in traffic.

Road transport emissions about 20 percent of total EU greenhouse gas emissions increased for the second year in a row in 2015, by 1.6 percent, the agency said.

It noted, however, that the EU has achieved a long-term reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 to 2015 of 22.1 percent despite economic growth of 50 percent.

This decoupling of economic growth from emissions during the 25-year period occurred due to a mix of green policies, such as encouraging the use of renewable energy and improving fuel efficiency, and changes in European economies that have seen a shift away from heavily polluting industries toward service jobs.

Milder winters have also contributed to a decline in heating fuel use, the agency said.

Herald with AP

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Emissions rise in the European Union - Buenos Aires Herald

BRUSSELS - The European Commission president on Wednesday said that it was the "duty of Europe" to stand up to the U.S. if President Donald Trump decides to pull his country out of the Paris climate change accord.

Jean-Claude Juncker said that "the Americans can't just get out of the agreement," adding that "it takes three to four years" to pull out.

Juncker went on to say that the Group of Seven leaders "tried to explain this in clear simple sentences to Mr. Trump" at a recent summit in Italy. He said that even though "it looks like that attempt failed," the "law is the law."

In a jibe at the U.S. administration, Juncker told the audience at an event of the Confederation of German Employers in Berlin that "not everything that is written in international agreements is fake news."

Juncker said: "If the U.S. president pulls out of the Paris agreement, and he will in the next days or hours, then it is Europe's duty to say that that is not how it works."

A White House official said earlier in the day that Trump was planning to pull out of the Paris deal, although a final decision hadn't been made.

Trump on Wednesday declared that abandoning the Paris climate agreement would be a victory for the American economy.

The European Union and China, meanwhile, will reaffirm their commitment to the Paris climate change accord this week regardless of whether the U.S. pulls out of the pact, a senior EU official said.

The official told reporters that the EU and China will also "spell out" how they plan to meet their commitments to the landmark international accord to fight global warming at talks in Brussels on Friday.

The official is involved in preparing the meeting between EU Council President Donald Tusk, Juncker and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, but can't speak on the record because their meeting statement wasn't finalized. Li and a major Chinese delegation are due to arrive in Brussels late Thursday following talks in Berlin.

"The EU and China are joining forces to forge ahead on the implementation of the Paris Agreement and accelerate the global transition to clean energy," EU climate commissioner Miguel Arias Canete said about the upcoming EU-China summit, stressing they remain committed to Paris.

A White House official said Wednesday that there could be "caveats in the language" announcing a withdrawal, leaving open the possibility that his decision isn't final.

That possibility was met with derisive howls from EU lawmakers when a session of the European Parliament was informed about it.

"Climate change is not a fairy tale. It is a tough reality which affects peoples' daily lives," European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said in a statement. "People die or are obliged to leave their homes because of desertification, lack of water, exposure to disease, extreme weather conditions. If we don't act swiftly and boldly, the huge human and economic cost will continue to increase."

Tajani suggested that Washington's withdrawal should be a signal for Europe to step up its efforts and reap the benefits.

"Our climate action strategy represents an opportunity to attract investment, innovation and develop new green technologies," he said. "We have got the talent and the will to make this possible in all sectors."

Tajani said earlier he would confer with Tusk and Juncker about "joint initiatives to be adopted together as a European Union" to offset the decision.

The EU official involved in organizing the EU-China meeting said it would will "send important signals for the multinational system," as Trump moves to unpick some of the international trade agreements the U.S. has signed up to.

Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy for the Union of Concerned Scientists advocacy group, said "I don't think any other countries will follow the U.S. out of Paris, so if he does leave, Trump will be in splendid isolation with the leaders of Syria and Nicaragua."

In Madrid, the leaders of India and Spain expressed their commitment to fighting climate change and reiterated their support for implementing the Kyoto and Paris accords.

In a joint statement issued following talks in the Spanish capital between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy, the two countries said taking action on climate change was a priority for both nations.

On Tuesday, Modi said in Berlin that it would be a "crime" to spoil the environment for future generations as the world awaits a decision on U.S. climate policy.

Rajoy and Modi agreed to boost bilateral cooperation in the field of combating climate change.

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European Union official: EU, China to reaffirm support for climate pact - Newsday

Published on May 31st, 2017 | by Joshua S Hill

May 31st, 2017 by Joshua S Hill

Leaked documents obtained by GreenpeacesEnergydesk reveal that the UK Government lobbied the European Union to weaken its own energy regulations on the very same day that UK Prime Minister Theresa May triggered Article 50, the countrys Brexit out of the EU.

According to the leaked documents obtained byEnergydesk, UK Ministers, part of the British delegation that is formally part of the Department for Exiting the EU, attempted to weaken rules and regulations set out by the EU for energy efficiency and renewable energy governance. Further problematic is that the head of the delegation is Secretary of State David Davis, a long-time climate skeptic with a long and vociferous record of opposing renewable energy and voting against UK climate policy. That Davis is so obviously moving to mitigate the effect of the EU regulations regulations, mind you, that dont even come into effect until after Britain will have left the EU raises concerns that the UK will not carry strict and enforceable climate and energy rules into its own laws.

Specifically, the UK provided a series of amendments it recommends be made to EU regulations that only serve to reduce key renewable energy and energy efficiency targets proposed by the European Commission, make them non-binding and give Member States a lot more leeway to wiggle, or even scrap them altogether (in some cases).

This smells of obstructionism, Jonathan Gaventa, director of environmental think-tank E3G, told Energydesk. The UK is pissing off countries it needs as allies.

The government is trying to lock the rest of the EU into weaker energy policies, just as we are leaving, added Hannah Martin, Greenpeace UKs Head of energy.

The message ministers seem to be sending is that Brexit could trigger a race to the bottom and be used ascover for getting rid of key environmental safeguards. Cutting energy waste and boosting some of the cheapest power sources like wind and solar is crucial to keep bills under control and slash carbon emissions. The UK public, including most Conservative voters, dont want a dirty Brexit. Theresa May should resist any attempts to hamper Britains progress towards a clean, affordable energy future and its promise of lasting jobs and economic growth.

The leaked documents (which can be found here) are essentially annotated EU regulations, with notes from the UK delegation to water down the efficacy of the regulations. Reading through all the documents sees repeated attempts to simply castrate the laws to make them more palatable to the UK, a country which has already shown its growing lack of concern about strong and binding targets.

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Tags: Department for Exiting the EU, EnergyDesk, EU, European Commission, European Union, Greenpeace Energydesk, Greenpeace's Energydesk, Prime Minister Theresa May, Secretary of State David Davis, Theresa May, UK Prime Minister, UK Prime Minister Theresa May

Joshua S Hill I'm a Christian, a nerd, a geek, and I believe that we're pretty quickly directing planet-Earth into hell in a handbasket! I also write for Fantasy Book Review (.co.uk), and can be found writing articles for a variety of other sites. Check me out at about.me for more.

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UK Lobbied European Union To Weaken Climate Rules - CleanTechnica

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The international organisation, made up of members from 35 countries, said there should be no stumbling blocks to business continuing as normal after the UKs divorce.

And it warns that if the EU shuts out Britain from its business dealings, it risks starving itself of crucial business.

The OECD said: Erecting new barriers to financial services in the post-Brexit environment will not be in the collective interest of the global economy, where London plays such a key role in international banking, bonds and foreign exchange.

For OECD countries, international obligations in the form of the OECD Codes of Liberalisation should present no legal barriers to operating in the collective interest in the post-Brexit environment.

In its annual business and finance outlook, the OECD said that it had taken the City decades to build up its financial expertise and that could not be transferred to another European destination.

It added: Unless UK and EU financial services regimes diverge significantly after Brexit, it can arguably be expected that the United Kingdom would benefit from the sort of selective recognition arrangements provided for by the Codes.

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The converse - recognition of EU financial service providers by the UK authorities as meeting UK standards - is also to be expected, even though the material significance of this may be smaller.

Prime Minister Theresa May is set to hammer out the fine print of the UKs exit from the EU in the coming months - if she wins the General Election on June 8.

One of the issues that keeps cropping up is its access to the EUs single market.

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There is no concrete decision as yet.

After Brexit, the UK will need to renegotiate at least 759 treaties. It's thought that the UK stands to lose much more than the EU after its exit.

There are even fears that London may not survive as a financial centre post-Brexit.

Many international firms chose London as their headquarters to get access to the rest of Europe, so, it's not known if they will change location.

London will stiff face competition from the rest of Europe which will attempt to poach business from the finance hub after Brexit.

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'Ample room' European Union can trade FREELY with UK after Brexit, OECD says - Express.co.uk

The United Nations has already passive-aggressively expressed its frustration with reports that President Trump has decided to back out of the Paris climate agreement, but European Union President Jean-Claude Juncker did not bother to tip-toe around the topic. On Wednesday, Juncker responded to the news by firmly saying, "That's not how it works."

"The Americans can't just leave the climate protection agreement," Juncker said. "Mr. Trump believes that because he doesn't get close enough to the dossiers to fully understand them. It would take three to four years after the agreement came into force in November 2016 to leave the agreement. So this notion, 'I am Trump, I am American, America First, and I'm going to get out of it' that won't happen."

Former President Barack Obama signed the deal in 2015. All but two countries in the world, Nicaragua and Syria, support the agreement. Axios reports that the administration is still "deciding on whether to initiate a full, formal withdrawal which could take three years or exit the underlying United Nations climate change treaty, which would be faster but more extreme."

Juncker added that "we tried to explain that to Mr. Trump in [Taormina, Sicily, where the G7 summit was held last week] in clear German sentences. It seems our attempt failed, but the law is the law and it must be obeyed. Not everything which is law and not everything in international agreements is fake news, and we have to comply with it."

Read Juncker's scathing full statement here. Jeva Lange

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European Union president flays Trump over reported decision to back out of Paris climate deal - The Week Magazine