Riga, 15/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - EU environment ministers, at their informal meeting in Riga on Tuesday 14 April, expressed a desire to do everything possible in the seven months remaining to ensure that the climate conference in Paris is a success and to call on the other major economies to be more proactive.
Meeting in the Latvian capital, ministers took stock of progress in preparations for the UN conference in Paris (COP 21, 30 November-11 December) at which it is hoped to conclude a global, legally binding climate agreement, with all the countries on board, to come into force in 2020, following on from the Kyoto Protocol. They were of the shared opinion that the involvement of heads of state could help achieve some progress in international climate negotiations.
“The new agreement must justify the expectations of the world community and provide a strong message to the private and public sector about further development at global level. The remaining seven months should be used as efficiently as possible. The EU is the first bloc to have submitted its offer of contribution (INDC), but this is not enough. We invite the other parties to be more proactive”, said Kaspars Gerhards, president in office of the Council, after the meeting. The Latvian Presidency will do all in its power to ensure the EU's effective participation in these negotiations, he stated.
In the view of Climate Action and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete, this informal ministerial meeting allowed an interesting discussion on the next stages of negotiations.
Not enough offers of contribution. “Time is pressing. The EU is the first major economy to have submitted its INDC - at the start of March. There have been six other submissions (United States, Russia, Gabon, Norway, Switzerland and Mexico, see EUROPE 11287), some of which are clearly based on the EU's (Ed: Norway's offer is identical to that of the EU). In total, this covers 25% of global emissions. We regret that so few INDCs have been lodged. We understand that some countries will lodge their offers in June, others later. The leadership of the major economies that account for 75% of total emissions is crucial”, stated Canete, calling on these countries to “leave their comfort zone” at the Bonn negotiating conference (1-11 June) that is to prepare for COP 21.
“The EU has put ambitious targets on the table (Ed: a reduction of at least 27% in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, compared with 1990 levels). We expect the major economies (G20) to do as much. They are able to do it”, Canete argued.
Persuading China and India to put their cards on the table. The informal Council meeting in Riga confirmed the EU's desire to pursue climate outreach with all the countries before Paris. Every opportunity will be used to spread the word, Canete said, beginning with the Major Economies Forum (MEF) in Washington next week (19-20 April), then the Petersberg ministerial dialogue (Berlin, 17-19 May), the Mediterranean ministerial dialogue (MEDCOP21, Marseilles, 4-5 June) and the G7 (Elnau, Germany, 7-8 June) and the G20 (Antalya, Turkey, 15-16 November) “to persuade them to lodge their INDC offers early enough so they can be evaluated before Paris”.
The European Commission is due to organise an international meeting in November for this purpose. When asked about EU expectations of China and India for the Bonn conference, Canete replied that “the EU is working with the countries of the G20, hoping that they will come forward as quickly as possible with an INDC comparable to that of the EU. That is the message we send them” (our translation throughout). (Aminata Niang)