London, UK - The Archbishop of Canterbury and other senior church leaders have warned against Europe taking advantage of the credit crisis to row back on climate change.
Dr Rowan Williams joined the Archbishop of the Church of Sweden and the Presiding Bishop of Germany's Evangelical Church in a letter to the President of France and current EU president, Nicolas Sarkozy, in which they urged him to stand firm on the environment.
The church leaders urged him to ensure that “that climate considerations are not marginalised in the search to find short and medium term solutions to immediate economic pressures.”
They believe that the world's economic and environmental futures are inextricably linked.
They said: "We are concerned, therefore, that as the global climate negotiations approach a critical moment, Europe appears to be using the current financial and economic crisis to modify key elements in its own climate package.
The church leaders want a commitment to a low-carbon economy that would protect the environment. However, Europe’s leaders, who for so long led the running in pushing for concerted international action to tackle climate change, have suddenly found themselves struggling to present a unified front on this issue.
Worries about the enormous costs of mitigation and adaptation at a time of recession have led to many observers questioning whether Europe can afford to move to a low-carbon economy.
President Sarkozy was anxious to wrap up a European deal before handing over the EU presidency at the end of the month but has come under pressure to water down proposals on renewable energy targets and greenhouse gas emission targets.
European ministers finally reached agreement yesterday on seeting themselves the target of increasing the EU’s reliance on renewable energy to 20 per cent by 2020 but they still have to ratify emission targets. Failure to do so is likely to severely weaken Europe’s reputation as a world leader on tackling climate change.
Early this year the EU member states seemed to be ready to rubber-stamp the climate change targets but dissenting voices emerged as economic worries deepened.
Silvio Berlusconi of Italy was among the most vocal critics of the cost of ensuring Europe had a low-carbon economy. Another was Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, who said: “The international financial crisis makes it necessary to revise the energy and climate package.”
The European Council meets Thursday and Friday to thrash out final targets. The church leaders are among those who are concerned that some member states are attempting to water down proposals on climate change. Countries such as Poland are concerned about the impact on its heavily coal-dependent electricity supply.
There is also concern that the economic crisis will lessen the willingness of Western nations to put money into helping countries suffering because of climate change, such as giving money to build flood defences in Bangladesh to protect against sea level rises.
Aid agencies such as ActionAid believe developed countries should help make clean technology cheaply available in poorer countries to address climate change and tackle poverty. For example, replacing wood with cleaner alternatives for cooking could reduce millions of early deaths from smoke inhalation among poor women and children.
Dr Williams, Archbishop Anders Rejryd and Bishop Huber warned in their letter that some governments are looking to increase their allowance of carbon credits that can be bought from developing countries, rather than looking at how to decrease carbon output from within the EU.
“The challenge of resuscitating economic growth cannot be treated in isolation from the challenges of promoting sustainable development. The choice is not between economic growth and environmental protection," they say.
“The current financial crisis and economic recession represent less a threat and more an historic opportunity to bring about tomorrow’s low carbon economy today."
European ministers finally reached tentative agreement yesterday on setting themselves the target of increasing the EU’s reliance on renewable energy to 20 per cent by 2020 but they still have to ratify emission targets. Failure to do so is likely to weaken severely Europe’s reputation as a world leader on tackling climate change.