Brussels, 23/11/2009 (Agence Europe) - All are behind Lars Løke Rasmussen, chairman of the Global Climate Conference in Copenhagen (COP-15, 7-18 December) in the desire to achieve a far-reaching, full and binding agreement in December - an agreement which would see action being taken immediately to ensure the necessary funding, urgently required by developing countries to adapt to climate change before the new international climate treaty comes into force on 1 January 2013, and to encourage the development of these countries' capabilities.
That is the watchword EU environment ministers gave themselves in Brussels on Monday 23 November at the extraordinary Council meeting convened by the Swedish Presidency as we enter the last straight before the Copenhagen conference. Environment Council President in office Andreas Carlgren thus summarised for press the outcome of this last political concertation meeting, described as very fruitful, before the start of the UN conference. The exchange of views with Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention and key negotiator Yvo de Boer allowed them to refine the EU position following the growing numbers of bilateral meetings that have taken place since the October European Council which formalised the EU negotiating mandate for Copenhagen.
“We have everything we need to conclude fruitful negotiations. Ministers have given their clear backing to an agreement in Copenhagen which will bring sufficiently large reductions to meet the 2° Celsius target. This agreement should cover all countries. The industrialised countries must undertake to provide urgent funding of €5-7 billion for 2010, 2011 and 2012. The EU will abide by its commitment. We want to use this as a lever to convince the other industrialised countries to be as ambitious as us. An agreement in Copenhagen must cover global reductions. Without the United States and China, only half the emissions will be covered. Agreement depends on sufficiently high offers from the US and China,” Carlgren told press. The proposed US emissions reduction of between 17% and 20% compared with 2005 levels is, he said, “ambitious, but we are expecting the United States to make use of all the possibilities available in terms of international offsetting and action to tackle deforestation,” Carlgren commented.
The EU is calling on all parties to agree on a system to tackle deforestation and to agree on hull fuel taxation for the short-term funding, added the Council President, giving assurances that the EU would continue to put pressure on the other parties to improve their offers on emissions reduction. He went on to praise Norway, Japan and Russia that have “reviewed their ambitions” and the offer of South Korea and Indonesia, two “highly ambitious” countries. The EU, for its part, will continue to use its 30% emissions reduction target (for 2020 compared to 1990) as a “lever” on the others. Speaking on behalf of the upcoming Spanish Council Presidency, Minister Elena Espinosa pointed out that the EU has “always shown its sensitivity regarding developing countries. One cannot forget that climate change affects these countries that are far more vulnerable than the countries of Europe. Commitment by industrialised countries for funding in their favour is therefore an essential element for an agreement in Copenhagen”.
Speaking on behalf of the European Commission, Stavros Dimas, Environment Commissioner, was delighted to see the Swedish Presidency, under which a sound agreement will be reached in Copenhagen, come together with the Spanish Presidency, under which the “legally binding treaty” will take shape. The commissioner was pleased that the situation had taken a positive turn in recent weeks with ambitious commitments on the part of Indonesia and Brazil, and new commitments from OECD countries (Russia: reduction of -22 to -25% by 2020 compared to 1990, Japan: -25%, Norway: -40% by the same date). However, he said, “we are still far from sealing an agreement that would prevent temperatures rising beyond 2°C. During the next two weeks and in Copenhagen, we hope the industrialised and developing countries will improve their reduction rates. In Copenhagen, we need an agreement on the basis of all the points contained in the Bali action plan. Legal finalisation will be in the months following Copenhagen”. The commissioner welcomed, moreover, the intervention by French Minister Jean-Louis Borloo who, presenting his “justice/climate” plan to the Council, calls for the amount of public funding available during the first three years and by 2020 (minimum €30-35 billion per year according to the French minister) to be clearly guaranteed to the poorest developing countries most vulnerable to global warming.
Yvo de Boer calls on EU to specify its offer, in particular its funding offer
Yvo De Boer, Executive Secretary for the United Nations Framework Convention, expressed confidence that “a very specific agreement” will be reached in Copenhagen. “There are just 13 days to go before the Copenhagen meeting opens, and I have not the slightest doubt that it will be a success. Indeed, there are still some points of deadlock and difficult issues to be addressed but we shall resolve them. I truly believe that the EU will have a crucial role to play in obtaining success”, he told the press. In his view, the agreement should set out in black and white four kinds of individual commitments: 1) the commitment of industrialised countries for reducing their emissions by 2020; 2) commitments by developing countries to act to restrict growth of their emissions compared to a business as usual scenario; 3) clarity on short term funding (2010-2010) and medium term funding (2020) to support developing countries; and 4) commitment by rich countries to place on the table at least US$10 billion for funding immediate action until 2012, notching up the contribution for which each country is ready.
“I believe that we will have a list of objectives of the rich countries, clarification of what the major developing countries, such as India and China, are prepared to do, but also clarification of the funding by means of a list of contributions", he added. What he expects from Copenhagen is "a package of decisions concerning the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the funding to which the various countries have committed, to be translated into the language of the treaty within the months following Copenhagen". Clarity is required "on the way the money will be used" in order to restore the shattered confidence of the developing countries, and the developing countries must be allowed to choose the path of development proper by means of support from everybody for a mechanism to fight deforestation, and an agreement on a deadline to finalise a binding treaty.
As for the EU, it must be clearer on the role of the carbon market, the forests, the contribution of the Member States to funding, particularly as regards the rapid funding the immediate adaptation of developing countries. "I am talking 10 billion US dollars a year in 2010, 2011 and 2012 to help the developing countries adapt and prepare ambitious strategies", he said, but also of longer-term funding (in the region of over 200 billion a year, including 100 billion for adaptation by 2020). The EU must also clarify the conditions under which it will be able to reduce its emissions by 30% between now and 2020.
Speaking to the press, who asked him why he was so optimistic, Yvo de Boer replied "everybody is optimistic". He summed up the elements to hope for: 1) "President Obama has indicated that if the negotiations are open and fair, he will come to Copenhagen to contribute to making this agreement a success, and the objectives of Brazil (limiting its emissions by 40%, compared to an effortless scenario), South Korea (limitation of 25% as opposed to zero effort) and Russia (reduction of 22% to 25% by 2020 compared to 1990 figures are "highly ambitious". China, for its part, has expressed its desire for Copenhagen to be a success and its minister with responsibility for the negotiations is hoping for a strong result, because China acknowledges that it is impossible to sustain a growth rate of 8% with an energy model based on carbon alone ; 2) "even though the EU is not clear over the financial plank, everybody recognizes that funding is a vital element in obtaining an agreement"; 3) industry, in the countries of the EU and the United States, is calling to be given the clarity it needs to plan its investments. In the view of Norbert Röttgen, the new German environment minister, whilst speaking before the press, the United States are now in a position which breaks with the past and which we should "recognize as positive". When asked about his expectations from Copenhagen, the German minister hoped for "concrete decisions on the maximum warming objective, emissions reductions, financial contributions, which are the principal duty of the industrialised countries- and the need to translate these political decisions into illegal treaty as quickly as possible in the first half of 2010, so that we have a legal clarity when the time comes to mobilise public money". (A.N. a/trans.fl)