Hitting the headlines is no guarantee of importance. But once in a while, the headlines are justified. Climate change is not today's fashion: it is about our future. Politicians, policy-makers, businesses, families, citizens - anyone who has a stake in the future knows that we need to act now to manage the problems of tomorrow.
Europe is leading the world's efforts to tackle climate change. This is no accident. The European Union has a unique mix of the qualities needed to act. It has a system of rules-based cooperation which recognises that common problems need common solutions. It enjoys world leadership in key technologies. And perhaps there is also something in the European psyche which is particularly open to the long-term challenge. "Solidarity" is a sometimes vague concept; but fighting climate change now is the strongest solidarity which this generation can show for the next.
Today, the facts on climate change are clear. We know that our planet is warming faster than ever, and that the human race is the main cause. We can all see the effects. Some examples: since 1995, 10 of the 11 warmest years on record since 1850; the majority of the world's glaciers in rapid retreat; an accelerated melting over the past few years.
Nick Stern's review on the economics of climate change, published on October 30, sets out in stark clarity the huge costs of inaction. But these costs are not just economic. Increasing freshwater scarcity, lost food production and rising sea levels will impose enormous social, economic and environmental costs. Poor countries will suffer most. This can only mean new risks to global security.
It is difficult not to sound catastrophic when writing about climate change but I prefer to sound determined about how we will act. Clearly, tackling the causes and effects of climate change will require fundamental change.
But with political will and a real sense of common responsibility, we can make this change happen. Meeting in Finland last month, European leaders called for more urgent action on climate change, and for the Commission to lead this policy process. The forthcoming German Presidency has already made it clear that they wish to take the issue further in the first half of 2007. The International Energy Agency's World Energy Outlook for 2006, (published on November 7,) shows that there is a credible alternative to "business as usual".
In recent years, Europe has demonstrated its ability and its determination to lead by example. The European greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme showed the way in finding cost-effective ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions - pushing businesses to seek out their own ways to cut emissions. It is the largest emissions trading scheme in the world, covering more than 11,000 installations across Europe, with about half Europe's carbon dioxide emissions. This scheme has brought climate change into the boardroom of every major company in Europe. It has laid the foundations for a growing international carbon market; no wonder many major US companies are calling for a similar scheme in the US.
Our objective now is to limit global average temperature increase to two degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. Climate change has already made the world 0.65 degrees Celsius hotter. In the worst case scenario, temperatures could rise up to 5.8 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. To halt this trend, we need decisive action over the next 10 to 15 years.
How will we do this? Complex problems need a variety of solutions. So we are working on a comprehensive package of measures.
First, energy. The European Commission's strategy for sustainable, competitive and secure energy shows that tackling climate change, addressing our energy security and strengthening our competitiveness go hand in hand. Boosting energy efficiency and developing renewables hits several goals at the same time: fewer emissions, less dependency on imports, a more stable market, a boost for European technology.
On October 19, the Commission put forward its Action Plan on Energy Efficiency, setting out how to increase the European Union's energy efficiency by 20 per cent by 2020. Further action will be unveiled in January with a strategic review of the energy policy.
The message will be clear: we must accelerate the change to a low carbon economy and increase our energy security, through increasing our energy efficiency, developing alternatives to hydrocarbons, and using cleaner hydrocarbons. A true European market in energy is essential to this, as is research and innovation - which is why I think one of the priorities for the European Institute for Technology should be clean environment technologies.
Second, tackling climate change head on. This means a firm and more stringent Commission position on the next round of national plans for controlling greenhouse gases for the period 2008-2012 to make sure that they are fully in line with our Kyoto obligations. And we must also look further ahead. This means spreading the emissions trading to aviation emissions, on which the European Commission will issue proposals soon. Early next year, the Commission will propose a Green Paper on further action on climate change "post-2012".
But Europe cannot solve the climate challenge alone. Our emissions are only 14 per cent of the world's total and projected to drop to about eight per cent by 2050. This is why our determination is facing here the big challenge of having others joining us in a new generation of global action to address the global threat. We need stronger European industry cooperation with third countries on energy efficiency, renewable energy and carbon capture and storage. We must offer help to developing countries to join the work against climate change. Most importantly, we need agreement on global emissions reductions and a global carbon market to have a genuinely global impact.
Determined European leadership can help convince the world of the urgency of firm action on climate change. From November 6 to 17, the world is discussing further steps at the UN climate change conference in Nairobi. This conference should ride the wave of a new determination to tackle climate change by forging a new consensus on the way forward. The work under way in the G8 should also help to prepare the ground for global agreement on climate change action and global energy efficiency.
Tackling climate change deserves its place at the top of the European Union's list of priorities. Europe has ideas, it has experience, and it has the vision to bring real change. There are tough decisions ahead, making real demands on every European. But climate change is too important to put in the "too difficult" pile. In the next few months, Europe can show its determination to serve its leadership role.
The author is president of the European Commission.