Brussels, 06/11/2009 (Agence Europe) - The commitment by the EU and India to cooperate on solar energy, with research investment of €10 million was the main climate progress in the EU-India summit on 6 November.
As international negotiations in Barcelona were becoming bogged down (see related article) and barely one month before he UN climate conference in Copenhagen (COP 15, 7-18 December) at which a global policy agreement will be sought for the period after 2012, tackling climate change was at the centre of exchanges between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the Presidency of the EU Council, and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso.
Both sides welcomed the allocation of two European Investment Bank loans - one for €150 million to support different projects that could mitigate the effects of climate change, and the other for €100 million for the partial funding of a new car factory in the state of Maharashtra, which will use European technology to produce cars which produce lower CO2 emissions.
There was nothing new, however, on negotiating positions for Copenhagen. The EU and India have both subscribed to the target, recommended by scientists, of keeping the average temperature rise of the surface of the planet to below 2° Celsius. This is a target that does not require a great deal of effort, and is one on which all the parties to the international negotiations can agree until it is known exactly how much each one is prepared to do to reach it. In their final statement, the two parties say that this target should take account of the overriding priority of poverty eradication and social development in the developing world. They undertake to cooperate to achieve an ambitious, comprehensive and fair outcome in Copenhagen. The EU and India acknowledge that, in tackling climate change, the same degree of priority has to be given to mitigation and adaptation, and that financial and technological support for the efforts made by developing countries will be the nub of the issue.
India, however, would not agree to the long-term target of halving overall emissions by 2050 compared with 1990, given that, like the other emerging countries, it does not intend to make any commitments on figures until the group of industrialised countries targets, for itself, an emissions reduction of at least 40% by 2020 and makes substantial financial aid available to developing countries. On this point, the two sides contented themselves with expressing their “hope that a global goal of significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 compared to 1990 levels would be reached in Copenhagen”.
“The EU is ambitious, but we cannot tackle climate change alone. It is a global issue. I have today encouraged Prime Minister Singh to join us in combating climate change,” Reinfeldt said after the summit.
Responding to press questions, Singh stated: “We have an ambitious national plan for the work against climate change, but we do not yet have a figure for emissions reductions”.
The two parties say the developing countries have a right to development and growth, but they recognise, too, that the implementation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change provides an opportunity to promote economic growth that is not harmful to the climate, sustainable development and tackling poverty. (A.N./transl.rt)