The European Climate Change Programme (ECCP) was launched in June 2000 by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

, with the purpose of

avoiding dangerous climate change In 2005, an international conference titled Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change: A Scientific Symposium on Stabilisation of Greenhouse Gases examined the link between atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration and global warming and its effects. ...

. The goal of the ECCP is to identify, develop and implement all the necessary elements of an EU strategy to implement the

Kyoto Protocol The was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that global warming is oc ...

. All EU countries' ratifications of the Kyoto Protocol were deposited simultaneously on 31 May 2002. The ECCP involved all the relevant stakeholders working together, including representatives from Commission's different departments, the member states, industry and environmental groups. The

European Union Emissions Trading System The European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is a carbon emission trading scheme (or ''cap and trade'' scheme) that began in 2005 and is intended to lower greenhouse gas emissions in the EU. Cap and trade schemes limit emissions of spec ...

for greenhouse gases (EU ETS) is perhaps the most significant contribution of the ECCP, and the EU ETS is the largest greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme in the world. In 1996 the EU adopted a target of a maximum 2 °C rise in global mean temperature, compared to pre-industrial levels. Since then, European Leaders have reaffirmed this goal several times. Due to only minor efforts in global

Climate change mitigation Climate change mitigation (or decarbonisation) is action to limit the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that cause climate change. Climate change mitigation actions include energy conservation, conserving energy and Fossil fuel phase-out, repl ...

it is highly likely that the world will not be able to reach this particular target. The EU might then be forced to accept a less ambitious target or to change its climate policy paradigm.

Vehicles

Under the framework of the European Climate Change Programme, the

was to present in mid- a Communication to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

and

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the he ...

on a revised Community strategy to reduce CO₂ emissions from light-duty vehicles. This review will be based on a thorough impact assessment of the existing Community target of a new car fleet average emission of 120 CO₂ g/km and of the possible measures that could form part of a revised strategy based on an integrated approach to CO₂ emissions reductions. On 7 February 2007, the European Commission announced plans for new legislation requiring the average

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

emissions of the vehicles produced in 2012 to be no more than 130 g/km. This is a bit more than the goal of 120, which corresponds to 4.5 L/100 km for diesel and 5 L/100 km for gasoline engines. In March 2011, the European Commission presented the EU Transport Roadmap, which shows pathways to achieve a 60% cut in greenhouse gases from all modes of transport by 2050. In May 2022, some countries in the European Union strongly reduced the price for traveling on

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

, among others, because this is a relatively climate-friendly mode of transportation:

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Germany reduced the price to 9 euro. In some cities the price was cut by more than 90%. The national rail company of Germany committed to increase the number of trains and extend lines to new destinations. The use of trains significantly increased so that "ticket websites have crashed upon the release of the tickets."

The "yellow vest" protest and the lessons from it

In 2019 the

yellow vests movement The yellow vests protests or yellow-jacket protests (, ) were a series of Populism, populist, grassroots weekly protests in France that began on 17 November 2018 and ended on 28 June 2020. Some minor protests started again after the restriction ...

rose in France. One of the main reasons was the high price for fuel, introduced by Emmanuel Macron's government as part of the program to curb emissions from vehicles. Another cause was the reduction of the speed limit with the purpose of saving 200 lives per year. The causes of the anger were the heavy reliance of the rural populations on cars and the disproportionality of the tax: the poor who are the less guilty for the emissions were hit harder. The Macron government cancelled the original plans for a fuel tax, hurting the aim of reducing effects of

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. Many think that the lesson should be: reduce the emissions from vehicles not by tax that hurt the poorest, but by more fairer taxes, making alternatives, for example by bicycle lanes,

bus lane A bus lane or bus-only lane is a lane restricted to buses, generally to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion. The related term busway describes a roadway completely dedicated for use by buses, whilst ...

s, and lower prices of train travel.

References

External links

European Climate Change Programme

European Commission Climate Change website

European Commission Climate Action website
{{Global warming Climate change policy Energy policies and initiatives of the European Union Economics and climate change Climate change in the European Union

Vehicles

The "yellow vest" protest and the lessons from it

See also

References

External links