Green groups press EU to adopt 25

Green groups press EU to adopt 25% renewables target for 2020

London (Platts)--23Apr2004


Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and WWF have called on European Union
commissioners to commit the EU to a target of sourcing 25% of all EU energy
from renewable sources by 2020, the green groups said in a letter Friday. The
move follows the leaking of a draft European Commission communication that
reviews Europe's renewables policies, and which indicates that the Directorate
General for Energy has so far refrained from proposing any new target.In
1997,the EU agreed a target to double renewables' share of EU energy demand
from 6% to 12% by 2010 and the European Parliament in March called for a 20%
target by 2020. WWF warned that the EU risked losing its place as a world
leader in renewable technologies if it did not commit to a target beyond 2010.
"The EU is currently the world leader in renewable energy technologies. If the
European Commission does not come forward now with a clear target for the post
2010 period, which in industry terms is 'tomorrow', this position will be
seriously undermined," said WWF EU spokesman Giulio Volpi.