MEP Kyriacos Triantaphyllides has urged EU leaders to practice what they preach when it comes to carbon footprints, citing the fact that during his last month in office Tony Blair’s CO2 output would take 7,200 trees to counter.
Triantaphyllides posed his parliamentary question in June, asking whether the EU Commission was keeping track of the carbon footprint of its Commissioners and their staff.
A carbon footprint is the total amount of CO2 and other greenhouse gases emitted over the full life cycle of a product, service, or person.
Triantaphyllides said since it was possible to track Blair’s carbon footprint, it might not be a bad idea for the EU to do the same for Brussels bureaucrats, particularly since the Commission was pushing strict guidelines for European citizens.
Triantaphyllides cited an article in the UK, which calculated that the journeys undertaken by British Prime Minister Mr Blair during his last month in office would amount to 34,300 miles, involving the emission of 1,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the absorption capacity of 900 trees.
“It is estimated that 7200 trees would need to be planted to offset this environmental disaster,” the AKEL MEP said in his question.
He asked if the Commission had undertaken similar studies concerning its members.
“Does it know how many miles Commissioners travelled by air on Commission business during 2006? Furthermore, in addition to the new [hydrogen-powered] vehicles used by the Commission for the transport of its members, does it know whether Commissioners adopt private travel arrangements in keeping with the Commission’s policy on the environment?”
The Commission answered his question late last month saying they were not keeping track of the carbon footprint of those carrying out the official business of the Commission.
The answer mentions the new energy efficient cars added to the official fleet, whose output is checked. It said it could not provide any information on the private lives or personal choices of Commission members.
Triantaphyllides said yesterday he found the answer unsatisfactory. “They are trying to promote regulations on emissions so they should also do it [keep track of their own],” he said, adding that it was unacceptable that the Commission did not know how many kilometres its members travelled. “They should practice what they preach.”
Asked whether the same applied to MEPs. who regularly travel to and from Brussels once a week, the Cypriot MEP said that under EU regulations members of the European Parliament must return to their countries between sessions. He said while in Brussels he walks as much as possible and occasionally uses the parliamentary car.
Nicolas Karayannis, the parliamentary assistant to Triantaphyllides, said MEPs had repeatedly asked that they be allowed to stay longer in Brussels. “But governments have refused this,” he said. “So parliamentarians are forced to travel.”
Karayannis said what they were trying to do was highlight the fact that the Commission was promoting strict laws on emissions when there were times they could use such things as video conferencing, instead of taking a plane. “They could reduce it,” he said.
