La Industria Química Europea respalda un acuerdo global fuerte frente al cambio climático sin menoscabar la competitividad del sector.
Bruselas, 06 de noviembre de 2015 – La cúpula ejecutiva del Consejo Europeo de la Industria Química ha suscrito una carta abierta dirigida al Consejo, la Comisión y el Parlamento europeos -publicada ayer en el diario Financial Times- en la que expresan su firme apoyo al esfuerzo de los gobiernos e instituciones para asegurar un acuerdo global, fuerte y vinculante respecto al cambio climático en la Conferencia de las Partes (COP 21) de la Convención Marco de Naciones Unidas sobre el Cambio Climático que tendrá lugar en París entre el 30 de noviembre y el 11 de diciembre.
La Industria Química destaca que apoya y seguirá apoyando los esfuerzos realizados por los estados e instituciones europeas para alcanzar el objetivo de una economía competitiva baja en carbono pero reclama que, paralelamente, se le de a la palabra “competencia” la relevancia que requiere permitiendo al sector mantener su competitividad para ser capaz de contribuir a este proceso a través de sus innovaciones.
El COP 21 busca alcanzar un acuerdo marco a nivel mundial para reducir las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero y movilizar la voluntad política mundial para hacer frente al desafío del cambio climático.
A continuación se reproduce el texto original de la carta abierta firmada por los máximos representantes de la Industria Química europea:
An open letter to the European Council, European Commission and European Parliament
The European chemical industry backs strong global climate change agreement at COP21
We, leaders of the European chemical industry, applaud the diplomatic efforts to achieve an ambitious and globally-binding agreement in the Paris climate negotiations next month. Climate action is needed worldwide, to truly protect future generations from this global problem.
Today, the chemical industry is a pillar of the European economy: a €551 billion industry in 2014 with a significant trade surplus of €43.5 billion, providing over 1 million direct jobs and nearly 2.5 million indirect jobs in Europe. We believe the chemical industry is also a pillar of tomorrow’s low carbon economy.
We represent a creative industry, whose greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 54% on 1990 levels while production grew by 70%. So, we want to set the record straight that Cefic does, and will continue to, support efforts by European governments and institutions to achieve a competitive, low-carbon economy.
Chemistry is often all but invisible yet essential to consumers’ everyday lives: from health and hygiene to transport, construction and computing. Chemical innovation enables current and future climate change solutions, including renewable energy, energy storage and thousands of products to improve energy efficiency, such as in vehicles and buildings. In future years, chemical companies around the world will develop many more of these innovative and important solutions. For now, Europe’s chemical industry is facing the reality of ever fiercer global competition. It must remain competitive in order to continue being innovative.
Climate change policy leadership in Europe should not come at the expense of ‘investment leakage’ – the effect of regional imbalances in climate regulations and associated cost differences that lead to the relocation of carbon emissions but not to an overall global reduction. For this reason we would warmly welcome a successful outcome in next month’s climate negotiations. Meanwhile Europe’s policymakers also need to make certain that measures are in place ensuring energy-intensive industries are not exposed to investment leakage in any scenario. European deindustrialisation is not and should never be seen as a viable option on the journey to decarbonisation.
We wish success to all involved in the negotiations in Paris next month.
