Brussels, 23/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - MEPs say that the United Nations' climate change conference in Warsaw (COP 19) on 11-12 November will be a key stage in deciding on a new fair and legally binding global deal to be signed at COP21 in Paris in 2015 and come into force in 2020. To this end, a decision is needed in Warsaw on the timing and commitment process for all the parties so that these can be spelled out in 2014 and studied and revised in 2015, explained the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 22 October in a resolution adopted by a wide majority (524 to 120, with 14 abstentions), in which the plenary adopted the position of the EP's environment committee (see EUROPE 10941), which largely echoes the language of the EU's Environment Council (see EUROPE 10942).
The European Parliament welcomed Ban Ki-moon's idea of holding a summit of heads of state in September 2014 and a meeting to prepare for COP in 2014. It says that the EU has a constructive role to play in facilitating the signing of a fair sharing of effort and calls on the European Commission to unveil European proposals on burden sharing at global level.
At the moment, the EP is sticking with the 2007 EU's offer to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020 on the 1990 figures, or even a 30% reduction if the other parties make comparable moves. The global agreement will need to respect the aim of keeping the rise in global temperature to below the 1990 level by 2030 and gradually phase out carbon emissions in the world by 2050, explain the MEPs. A price of carbon emissions from international aviation and international maritime transport needs to be set.
The MEPs say the new “climate pact” should no longer divide the world into two categories, developing and industrialised countries, but should set out a differentiated contribution for each country based on robust application and conformity.
The EP will send a delegation to Warsaw headed by Mathias Groote (S&D, Germany), and says it is not acceptable that at the previous COPs, no MEPs had been able to attend the EU coordination meetings. It hopes that at least the head of the delegation will be able to attend the said meetings in Warsaw. (AN/transl.fl)