Environment Commissioner Potočnik seems to pass test while Friends of the Earth provide food for thought
Posted on January 13, 2010 at 05:26 PM
As an MEP I often receive requests from various groups for a meeting in my office, in order to discuss the position of their organisation in advance of an upcoming vote in the European Parliament. As any legislation passed or dismissed by the parliament can often have a profound impact on these organisations (as well as many citizens in the EU), I regularly hold meetings with such groups in order to gain a wider perspective of the issue at hand.
This morning I met with representatives of the NGO 'Friends of the Earth', in my capacity as Ireland's only member of the Parliament's ENVI Committee. With the prospective new Commissioner for the Environment, Slovenia's Janez Potočnik, in front of the European Parliament this afternoon, such groups are keen to ensure that the new Commission will listen to their concerns. Subsequently Mr Potočnik was impressive in his hearing, and answered the question which I put to him regarding the enforcement of environmental legislation quite well.
The principle issue which I discussed with Friends of the Earth was Europe's current use of natural resources, as opposed to its general impact on the environment. An example of the difference between these two approaches would be the production of biofuels- a technology which on the face of it has wonderful repercussions for our environmental impact, but only at a considerable cost to our natural resources.
A topic raised during our meeting, and one which has been gaining momentum in academic circles and forums such as the ENVI committee recently, is the opinion that we will never be able to realise our target of keeping global warming below 2% simply by being more efficient and by introducing technologies which cut down on our environmental impact. In addition we have to manage our use of natural resources better, and in this regard Europe can be a real world leader, by cutting consumption and negating the effects of climate change while also maintaining our quality of life.
As with many aspects of climate change, the effects of our overuse of natural resources is often right in front of us, and this is particularly relevant during the current water shortages in Ireland. Growing up near a reservoir, my parents were always sensitive to water consumption, while my father used to receive short thrift when he claimed that water supplies would begin to run out in the 80's or 90's. These days water supplies in many parts of Leinster are almost always in deficit, and the current shortages should send a clear message to the government to introduce the proposed water metre scheme in the short term, rather than placing it on the long finger.
