Brussels, 16/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - In Brussels on Wednesday, the EU ministers responsible for financing the fight against climate change will fine-tune their contribution to the UN global conference on climate change in Cancun, Mexico (COP 16, 29 November-10 December 2010).
The conclusions document that they will agree on will set out in detail the EU's pledge to pay developing countries vulnerable to the impact of climate change €7.2 billion over three years (2010-2012) and this will be a decisive document (see EUROPE 10256) because it will give body to the EU's pledge at highest level (heads of state of all 27 countries) to submit to Cancun and every year after that a full, transparent report on implementation of the Rapid Finance measure to back the climate change adjustment and reduction measures in the world's poor countries (see EUROPE 10247). Transparency is a key demand of developing countries, which are impatient to learn the amount of money to be received by each country and project and whether the money set out in the Copenhagen Agreement (USD 30 billion over three years has been promised in total by developed countries) is “new money” or a recycling of cash already pledged.
In its conclusions document, the ECOFIN Council will point out that the EU and its member states have made progress in setting out the concrete details of their commitment and will invite the Commission to include a section on the Rapid Finance measure in its annual report on responsibility and financing of development and to provide an update, if needed, for the Cancun conference at the end of the year. The ministers will confirm their desire to create a Copenhagen Fund for the climate and will hope that Cancun will make it possible for such a fund to become operational at COP 17 next year.
On long-term financing for developing counties (USD 100 billion a year by 2010), the Council will stress the need for the private sector to play a greater role, particularly in carbon trading, in stumping up funding, and will also stress the need for innovative sources of public funding. The ministers will point out that although essential, the mobilisation of additional resources should not compromise budget correction and viability. (A.N./transl.fl)