Archive for March 2010
Childers welcomes new EU stance on climate talks
Posted on March 09, 2010 by Bronwen Maher
Speaking in the European Parliament in Strasbourg today Nessa Childers welcomed the new EU stance on climate talks.
She was speaking in reaction to the Commission’s proposals for shaping the international negotiation process in the run-up to the Cancun conference at the end of 2010.
Nessa Childers, Ireland’s only full member of the European Parliament Environment Committee said: “I welcome the new stance taken by the Commission on the possibility of moving to a 30 per cent target cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
“The Commission now states it will propose moving to the higher target 'if conditions are right'. This is a new stance which means that we will no longer be held hostage by the climate laggards in the US and China. It also signals that the new Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard is taking a more ambitious line.
"The Commissioner has said she will prepare an analysis of practical measures that would be required to implement a possible reduction of emissions up to 30%, including an analysis of contributions required by different sectors. In such a depressing period for all those who care about the international climate change talks, this is a welcome development.
“The EU leadership always insists that Europe leads by example on this issue, well it is now time to start proving it. I believe that reaching higher targets on emissions is now much more achievable than first thought. There is a clear economic win-win involved in pursuing higher targets too.
“Reductions in GHG emissions of 30 per cent or even higher would have a revolutionary impact on European economies. It would help create the dynamic and the demand needed to drive the development of the clean energy sector, leading to a massive increase in indigenous and sustainable green jobs.”
"Ahead of meeting of EU Environment Ministers on 15 March, I call on Environment Minister John Gormley to exert influence at this meeting to push the EU toward this higher emissions cut target as soon as possible."
Pet passport agreement will help keep Ireland rabies free Childers tells Parliament
Posted on March 09, 2010 by Bronwen Maher
Speaking in the European Parliament in Strasbourg last night, Nessa Childers MEP told members that an agreement on a new ‘pet passports’ system would help keep countries such as Ireland rabies-free.
The Labour MEP said: “The case of a 38 year old woman who died in Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast last year was a timely reminder of the ongoing threat posed by rabies to Ireland.
“It is believed that she contracted the disease while trying to break up a fight between two dogs while on a working holiday to South Africa. More recently four people had to receive preventative injections in Dublin after an illegally imported kitten bit them.
“Rabies is one of the oldest zoonotic diseases which affects humans and is invariably fatal once symptoms have occurred. While we are lucky in Ireland not to have had an indigenous case of rabies since 1903, global travel patterns mean that the disease is never far from our door.
“It is for this reason that Ireland practices strict quarantines of imported animals, and it is only because of these stringent measures that we are able to maintain our status as rabies-free.
“In order to continue this record it is crucial that the transitional agreement, which this proposal would extend until the end of next year, is not allowed to lapse in July 2010.
“The additional safeguards contained in the proposed report are also crucial to both human and animal health, as they will help the fight not just against rabies but also against specific ticks and tapeworms from which Ireland is currently free.
“By accepting this proposal, Mr. President, this house would facilitate the fight against rabies not only in Ireland, but would also provide a base for its eradication across Europe. For these reasons the urgency of this matter must not go understated.”
Childers wants Irish Angling protected by reformed common fisheries policy
Posted on March 02, 2010 by Bronwen Maher
Recreational angling, an integral part of Ireland’s sporting life and a major tourism pull-factor should be protected in the new Common Fisheries Policy, Nessa Childers MEP told the European Parliament today.
She warned that attempts to impose controls on shore angling and to deduct these catches from the quotas of the commercial industry could have a serious affect on earnings in Ireland’s already troubled tourist industry.
Childers, a member of the European Parliament's Culture and Education Committee, argued that its low status compared to commercial fishing should not allow the importance of recreational angling to be ignored in the new Policy.
Childers slams EU double standards on question of human rights in Israel
Posted on March 01, 2010 by Bronwen Maher
Labour MEP Nessa Childers today accused the European Union of applying “a policy of double-standards” on the question of human rights in its relationship with Israel.
She said that the EU’s economic treatment of Israel compared to other countries involved in human rights abuses left Europe wide open to the fully warranted charge of hypocrisy in the conduct of its external relations.
Nessa Childers explained: "Recently, the EU rightly withdrew preferential trade benefits from Sri Lanka due to well documented human rights abuses. Yet the EU consistently refuses to use the same logic with Israel, despite years of well documented, high-profile cases of ongoing human rights abuses.
