Press release: 2007-04-11 08:20
Minister Bursík holds climate change discussions with British Deputy Prime Minister Prescott
Yesterday Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Environment, Martin Bursík, met British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott for a working meeting in Prague. They primarily discussed the matter of climate change, urban transport and energy issues.
In the policy of climate protection, they agreed on the importance of the European Union’s undertakings in the development of renewable energy sources and increasing energy effectiveness and other practical steps in the fight against climate change. John Prescott gave information about the newly introduced Climate Change Levy. This is a charge for heavy industry in particular, which should contribute to a reduction in CO
2 emissions and help the switch to low-carbon technologies. They also talked about tax and other concessions for alternative fuel cars (for example, hybrid cars). In addition to other matters, Minister Bursík mentioned support for cars driven by pure biofuels, which have a zero excise duty rating in the Czech Republic at the moment.
The British Deputy Prime Minister also talked about the proposal for simplifying local planning in Great Britain in order to contribute to the fight against climate change and not to create, for example, superfluous barriers to wind turbines or the installation of solar panels. In this way the British Government wants to support an increase in the share of renewable energy sources. Last but not least, there was discussion on the theme of energy savings and support for the construction of low-energy houses.
John Prescott described developments in Great Britain in recent years and pointed out several errors from which we can learn . For example, in transport policy today great investments are being made in the reinvigoration and reconstruction of public transport (in particular railways), which was replaced by individual automobile transport in the 1970s and 1980s. In view of its growing intensity, in recent years many new measures have been introduced, including economic instruments – for example, the introduction of congestion charges in cities. In London, the introduction of a toll for entering the central part of the city, led to a 30% reduction in congestion already during the first year.
Close cooperation was agreed in particular in the area of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, in the area of renewable energy sources, energy savings and improving the quality of urban environment.
Then John Prescott and Martin Bursík took part in a discussion dinner on the theme “Shared responsibilities for Climate”, with the participation of politicians, industry, scientists, experts and the media. John Prescott emphasised that climate change is not only an environmental issue, but it is increasingly an economic question. He pointed to the conclusions of the Stern Report, which deals primarily with the impacts of climate change on the economy and indicates that it is still possible to avoid the negative and worst impacts of climate change by means of the immediate implementation of effective measures. The British Government reacted, inter alia, with a climate change law, the first of its kind in the world, which designates the legislative framework for reducing carbon emissions by 60% by 2050.
In his speech Minister Bursík pointed to the outputs from the preceding bilateral discussions with John Prescott and appreciated the activities of Great Britain on the national and international scale. He pointed out the importance of cooperation in the fight against climate change in European and global context. Amongst other things, he pointed out the accepted conclusions from the European Council this March relating to the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, the increase in the share of renewable energy sources out of the total energy consumption in the EU, and the share of biofuels in the total consumption of petrol and diesel in the transport in the EU that designate binding, and not just indicative goals, which represents a breakthrough in the joint climate change and energy policy. Minister Bursík also emphasised the potential for employment and the new opportunities for industry, and gave the recent visit to the firm Škoda Auto as an example.
Further information:
http://www.sternreview.org.uk
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/energy_policy/index_en.htm
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