Meeting in Sapporo, Japan, recently the heads of the Union of the Electricity Industry (EURELECTRIC), Edison Electric Institute (EEI) and the Federation of the Electric Power Companies of Japan (FEPC) have called for long-term, global, but voluntary, actions to address climate change.
The electricity associations, meeting for the eighth time, stressed the need to attain “compatibility between environment and economy” through adoption of long-term, economy-wide approaches. “Voluntary actions to reduce or avoid emissions of greenhouse gases provide a more efficient base for measures to cope with climate change in a competitive market in terms of speed, flexibility and effectiveness,” participants said in a joint statement. “In general, a market-based approach, rather than a regulation-based approach, will provide a more effective solution,” the groups added.
EEI president Tom Kuhn, said of the move: “The centerpiece of any effective policy response must be development and global deployment of new greenhouse gas-reducing technologies that fortify—rather than sacrifice—economic growth.”