ACCIONA meets presidents Barroso and Buzek to progress european Climate Change agenda

The Prince of Wales's EU Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change (EUCLG) is hosting a meeting with the President of the European Union (EU), Jose Manuel Barroso, in Brussels, with the participation of ACCIONA, which will also include representatives of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) and the P8 Group to discuss initiatives and policy measures which will enable the EU to retain its leading role in the development of a global low carbon economy.

The meeting will be held in advance of a Low Carbon Prosperity Summit, which will be hosted by President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, in collaboration with the EUCLG and attended by over 300 MEPs and European officials. The Prince of Wales has been invited by the President of the European Parliament to address the Summit alongside the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and President of the European Council, Herman van Rompuy.

The purpose of the meetings is to strengthen the dialogue between EU policy makers, business leaders and investors on how best to support the development of a low carbon economy and take advantage of the tremendous economic and social opportunities offered by green growth.

The EU CLG members, ACCIONA as the only Spanish representative, and IIGCC leaders will call for:

• Clear policy frameworks and timetables which are needed to give business leaders and investors confidence in the future direction of climate regulation. With estimates suggesting that the vast majority of capital must come from the private sector, these policies must provide long term investment certainty. Recent examples of retroactive policy changes.
• Have seriously undermined the confidence of investors and weakened their appetite for policy backed low carbon investments.
• The adoption of more ambitious short-term and medium term targets to help drive up the carbon price and incentivize low carbon investments to reach the EU's 2050 GHG emissions reduction targets of 80-95%. Weak carbon prices have seriously undermined domestic investments in many low carbon technologies, as well as the development of emissions trading across the EU and internationally.
• A revision of the EU budget for 2014-2020 to take into consideration the increased lowcarbon economy funding needs, funding for low-carbon energy technology research,development and deployment and new 'smart green' low-carbon solutions from other sectors such as the buildings and ICT sectors.
• Consumer initiatives, including low carbon education programmes and labelling schemes, which will help to inform consumer choice, as well as stimulate product innovation and create new markets.
• The business leaders and investors welcome the opportunity to work with the EU presidents and their institutions to build a prosperous low carbon economy across the European Union, and believe these meetings are a step in the right direction.