Luxembourg, 15/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - After the international climate talks in Bonn on 1-11 June, EU environment ministers in Luxembourg on Monday 15 June expressed concern at the slow pace of the global talks in the leadup to the Paris COP21 Summit on 30 November to 11 December 2015.
Speeding things up. Latvian environment minister and chair of the Council Kaspars Gerhards says that the whole world is keeping a close eye on the international talks because this is a huge challenge for humanity, but ministers are concerned about the slow speed of the talks because there are only ten full negotiating days left and everyone wants the 2 degrees centigrade target to be met.
The talks in Bonn did not provide the shorter document that had been hoped for and things now need to speed up and all countries have to get out of their comfort zones because the document is late, he added. Ethiopia, Morocco and Serbia have submitted their INDC (draft contribution to the future agreement, based on work at national level). At a press conference, Climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete expressed the general feeling when he hoped that other economies would submit their INDC as soon as possible as an international vision is crucial in order for the 2050 targets to get on the right track. The ministers are delighted that the G7 Summit in Elmau recommended long-term targets (reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% to 60% by 2050, see EUROPE 11330), because, as Canete explained, we have to prepare for a carbon-free global economy, as recommended by science. The Commissioner said the ministers had also confirmed the need for a revision mechanism for the future agreement every five years in order to respect planning cycles.
The EU's negotiating position for Paris to be formalised on 18 September. The EU's negotiating position for Paris will be laid down in the conclusions document of the special Environment Council on 18 September 2015. On behalf of the COP21 presidency, the French delegation said it was important for the EU to take advantage of its INDC and collectively promote sectors of excellence. The French said that financing would be a key element of the Paris accord.
Council to discuss financing in July. The imminent Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU has already put the financing of the global climate deal on the agenda of the Environment Council of 22 and 23 July.
In Bonn, all the world's governments asked the co-chairs of the talks (Algerian Ahmed Djoghlaf and American Daniel Reifsnyder) to propose a text in mid-July to start to shape the Paris agreement and the decisions backing the agreement in order to put it into practice. Countries will meet in Bonn again from 31 August to 4 September to negotiate the fundamentals of the new agreement. Another series of negotiations is scheduled in October, ahead of COP21. (Aminata Niang)