Réfléchir à un leadership européen à Copenhague

La conférence des Nations Unies sur le changement climatique qui aura lieu en décembre à Copenhague « pourrait déterminer si oui ou non le monde peut répondre à une menace dont tous les scientifiques sont convaincus qu’elle conduira à un changement catastrophique, à moins que nous agissions rapidement ». C’est ce qu’a écrit sur Blogactiv Michael Berendt, conseiller politique en chef à Fleishman Hillard.

Asking whether Europe can provide leadership in Copenhagen, Berendt points out that « competition is hotting up for global leadership of the issue ». While President Obama has outlined his conviction that the US should be the leader of a « truly global coalition », Europe would « no doubt prefer joint leadership, » he argues. 

Meanwhile, MEPs have already « set out a checklist of measures [to tackle climate change] which they believe must be implemented, » the post recalls. 

Competition for leadership between the EU and the US is unlikely to have much impact unless both can « secure the commitment of China, India and other advanced developing countries to transform their own energy policies, » the author asserts.

Indeed, « a failure to engage them while their economies are expanding will [diminish] all efforts of the old economies, » he fears. 

Thus the European Commission has put « great emphasis on the need for an effective financial architecture which would include payment of €90 billion a year for developing countries by 2020, » the blog post states. 

Although Europe has been the political leader in delivering climate change policies, Berendt believes the real challenge will be industrial leadership. 

He wonders whether the « commitments which are being made by the new US administration to support new clean technologies will be the contemporary equivalent of the Star Wars project [a huge funding initiative which led the US to become the unmatched global power in the defence industry] ». 

Europe’s « motor industry, aerospace, renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency models are all potential winners in the world markets, but [they] face competing programmes of support from across the Atlantic and from the rapidly evolving economies of South East Asia, » Berendt concludes.