www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/21/business/rtrinside22.php
BRUSSELS: Will the fight against climate change drive the makers of steel, glass, chemicals and cement out of Europe or out of business, or neither? As EU governments and lawmakers debate proposals to curb greenhouse gas emissions more severely from 2013, the howls of protest from European industrialists are growing louder. They are concerned that unless there is a global agreement they may pay a high price for Brussels' greener-than-thou policies, losing out to producers from countries with lower environmental standards. "If we are not careful, we will be badly hurt in our growth and jobs in Europe," said Ernest-Antoine Seillire, president of BusinessEurope, the EU's main business lobby organization. If Europe goes it alone and makes industrial companies buy auctioned permits to emit carbon dioxide, the main gas blamed for global warming, energy-intensive industries say they could face extinction on the Continent.
Banks appear to be backing out of Bell Canada takeover financing Some are threatening to move more of their production to emerging economies. "If we were to relocate our industries outside Europe, we would then have to transport steel to Europe, adding emissions," said Philippe Varin, president of the European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries. The European Commission, which made proposals in January to implement a 20 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2020 from 1990 levels, says its priority is to negotiate an international agreement next year on fighting climate change. The aim is to include countries like the United States, China, India and Brazil, which have not accepted any binding curbs on their emissions so far. Promising special protection for specific EU industries before those negotiations would undermine Europe's bargaining position, the commission says. If there is no deal reached during UN talks scheduled for 2009 in Copenhagen, Brussels has made a provision to give the most exposed industries free carbon dioxide allowances under its Emissions Trading Scheme instead of making them buy them in auctions. But it will not say which sectors would receive such special treatment nor what other measures it may take to protect them. Some business leaders say that is not enough, because companies cannot plan and invest without legal certainty. Jeroen van der Veer, chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, said that oil refiners could be pushed out of Europe if they had to pay for carbon dioxide permits in the EU but not outside. Many other industries say they, too, should be special cases, including pulp and paper, ceramics and aluminum. EU leaders recognized at a meeting last month that "the risk of carbon leakage" needed to be analyzed and addressed urgently. Carbon leakage occurs when emissions rise because of companies shifting production away from areas with tough environmental standards, like the euro bloc, to areas with less stringent demands. Leftists in the European Parliament, trade unions and the French government, concerned about potential job losses, want the Commission to go further and impose a carbon tax on imports from countries that do not meet EU climate standards. EU trade officials say any border levy on carbon dioxide would be incompatible with World Trade Organization rules and could lead to retaliation against European goods, sparking a trade war. Some climate campaigners question the facts behind the industrial lobbying. Claude Turmes, a Green party member of the European Parliament from Luxembourg, argues that talk of carbon leakage is often based on myths. Less than 2 percent of cement and about 5 percent of refined oil products are imported into the European Union, he said, which undermined arguments that those industries are heavily exposed to global competition. Besides, new production facilities in emerging countries are often more energy efficient than old plants in Europe, he said. Nick Campbell, who negotiates climate change policies for the European chemicals industry, rejected the notion that energy-intensive industries were seeking a free ride. Even without paying for permits they will have to make deep cuts in emissions by 2020, he said. "One of the problems on this carbon leakage argument is that you don't see the damage until after it's done," Campbell said. "I can't put my hand on my heart and say a factory has closed because of climate change policies, and I may not be able to for another five years. But I know it will happen if the right policies are not adopted."
Aftershock warning sows panic in China Near midnight, thousands of people trying to evacuate Chengdu by car were stuck caught in gridlock, while others rushed outside.
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