Hedegaard: Financial crisis should not keep EU from moving on climate targets

In a keynote speech to the Brussels Economic Forum on Tuesday in Brussels, Connie Hedegaard, Member of the European Commission in charge of Climate Action, said that tackling the financial and economic crisis should not prevent the European Union from moving ahead on climate change and energy security issues.

If we leave climate change to the coming decades, we will just repeat the mistake that led to the financial crisis, the commissioner told participants. We need to look for the opportunities for Europe, and green technologies playing a key role in sustainable economic growth in Europe is compelling, she added.

In a keynote speech to the Brussels Economic Forum today in Brussels, Connie Hedegaard, Member of the EC in charge of Climate Action, said that tackling the financial and economic crisis should not prevent the European Union from moving ahead on climate change and energy security issues.

"If we leave climate change to the coming decades, we will just repeat the mistake that led to the financial crisis, the commissioner told participants. We need to look for the opportunities for Europe, and green technologies playing a key role in sustainable economic growth in Europe is compelling," she added.

"if we leave climate change to the coming decades, we will just repeat the mistake that led to the financial crisis. We need to look for the opportunities for Europe and for synergies between policies. The case for green technologies playing a key role in sustainable economic growth in Europe is, I believe, compelling. The global market for fundamental technologies and products is forecast to grow strongly at around 10% annually over the coming years. Try to find other sectors where you have sort of a forecast from many different sides that is 10% growth annually world-wide in many years to come."

"so the EU needs to be in a position to take full adavantage of this opportunity. Look at our energy policy. By boosting renewable energy, energy efficiency, and carbon capture and storage, Europe is actually paving the way for the key technologies that will be need in all regions of the world, if we globally are to make the deep emission cuts that are necessary."