Brussels, 21/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Union will sign the Paris Agreement at a signing ceremony in New York on Friday 22 April, to be hosted by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. However, there is a risk that this first universal climate agreement could come into force without the EU and its 28 member states having ratified it.
It was in full awareness of this risk that Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic, Climate Action Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete and President in office of the Environment Council Sharon Dijksma flew out to New York on Thursday 21 April (see EUROPE 11536).
The Commission will bring forward its ratification proposal before the summer. “The EU calls for swift ratification”, states the European Commission in a press release published on the eve of the signing ceremony. The call is made to the international community but has to be heard, first and foremost, as an urgent message to the member states of the EU, many of which, with Poland leading the way, have said they would not begin their national ratification procedure without first learning how the burden is to be shared among the 28 member states.
Of the 196 parties to the Paris Accord, 168 (167 countries plus the EU) will, on Friday, sign the universal climate agreement concluded at COP 21 on 12 December (see EUROPE 11452). Ten countries from among the small island states vulnerable to the consequences of climate change, such as the Marshall Islands and Vanuatu, will also ratify it on 22 April.
Risk that the EU could be marginalised. The United States and China, which together are responsible for 40% of global emissions, have stated that they want to ratify the agreement this year. They could possibly do so in September, when the United Nations General Assembly will take place. With the small island states and India (5% of global emissions) which could ratify this year, 50% is reached.
“The EU, which was part of the high ambition coalition, is running the risk of being sidelined. If, this year or next, the quorum of 55 countries responsible for 55% of global emissions is reached without the EU, it would be painful. This scenario could come to pass if Japan (3-4% of global emissions) ratifies this year”, warned Bas Eickhout MEP (Greens/EFA, Netherlands) at a press conference in Brussels on Thursday.
“After Paris, the world is moving but not the EU. We cannot be repeating for five years that we have the most ambitious targets and not be there for the ratification without losing credibility.”
The United States intends to bring pressure to bear on Japan at the G7 to have it ratify the agreement swiftly. That will be an easier task than bringing the EU's 28 member states into line.
Within the EU, France, as the president of COP 21, is being very active: it will have completed its ratification procedure by summer but it would seem to be on its own. French President François Hollande will be the only European head of state at the ceremony in New York on Friday. “Germany, which could bring pressure to bear on Poland, is saying nothing. The United Kingdom is not being very active, concerned as it is with the Brexit referendum. Spain and Italy are silent. And we're not hearing anything from the Dutch Presidency either”, regretted Eickhout.
“Time to stop raising our glasses of champagne and start work”, said Rebecca Harms, the joint-leader of the Greens. If the EU is to help turn the Paris Accord into reality, five conditions will have to be met, according to her group: the EU will have to ratify the agreement swiftly to avoid being sidelined; - it will have to ensure that the expected agreement at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) on a market measure to address CO2 emissions from international aviation is in line with the Paris Accord goals, that is, maintaining the average rise in global temperature to below two degrees Celsius, and if possible one degree; - since the EU is on track to do better than its 2020 objective (a 23% reduction in its emissions having already been achieved in 2015, according to the EEA), it must readjust this goal and keep the promise it made to raise the target to 30% if comparable efforts were made by the other parties; - the EU will have to show ambition in its revision of the ETS aiming for a 95% reduction in its emissions by 2050, rather than 80%; - it will have to end subsidies to fossil fuels which currently stand at €300 billion per year and invest this money in energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Greenpeace sees the large number of countries present at the signing of the agreement as “a real indication of the overwhelming support to turn the Paris Agreement into accelerated climate action”. Jennifer Morgan, Executive Director of Greenpeace International, called on government to “follow through with specific accelerated actions to cut greenhouse gas emissions, save our forests and protect our oceans”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)