madam president in march two thousand and seven under the german presidency and again in march two thousand and eight under the slovenian europe's leaders committed themselves to achieving a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least twenty by twenty twenty an already limited ambition
let us be under no illusion in order to secure a post twenty twelve international agreement on climate change at copenhagen we will have to make a clear and unambiguous statement through our legislation
the current international financial liquidity crisis and the economic backdrop has allowed many to grow cautious of setting long-term co targets or of committing industry to achieving the necessary greenhouse gas reductions and thus driving europe's economy forward towards the low-carbon sustainable economy which we so desperately need and which i agree will spark a third industrial revolution with exciting first-mover advantage for europe in the whole area of new technologies
however the eu's post twenty twelve targets should not be seen in the light of the current economic crisis
i believe our governments will be able to resolve that in the shorter term and we must deliver now so that future generations will not bear the brunt including the economic brunt of any delay in terms of the climate and energy package
we cannot pay the higher price in the future for our inability to act now or history will not be kind to us or as president sarkozy said we will miss our date with history
the european parliament has given me as one of the rapporteurs on the climate package a strong mandate to lead negotiations with council in the trialogue and i take this responsibility seriously
we must maintain the targets and timetable and as mr sarkozy said major ambition with some compromise will be the order of the day
i look forward to a very close cooperation with both the commission and the council under the french presidency
i believe that together we can and will find an effective and workable agreement on the climate and energy package by this december
