In the run-up to COP29, which takes place from 11 to 22 November in Baku (Azerbaijan), the former Swedish Minister for International Cooperation, Environment and Climate and Greens/EFA MEP, Isabella Lövin, has called for a strong EU commitment to climate financing.
At a press briefing held on Wednesday 30 October alongside MEP Michael Bloss, a member of the European Parliament’s delegation to COP29, Ms Lövin expressed her concerns, less than a week before the US presidential election, about the potential repercussions of a second term for Donald Trump, which could weaken the US commitment to the climate.
“I know the importance of EU leadership when the United States does not take this position”, said Ms Lövin. The former minister, who served during the term of the former Republican president responsible for the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement in 2017 (since reinstated), called for the EU to become a “reliable and credible partner” for developing countries in the run-up to the next financing deadline in 2025.
The meeting in Baku should result in an agreement on a collective quantified target for financing the fight against climate change post-2025, to help vulnerable countries mitigate climate impacts and adapt. The Copenhagen Accord, which came out of COP15 in 2009 (see EUROPE 10044/10) set a target of $100 billion per year from 2020, but the commitment was not met on time.
Ms Lövin believes that the European Union must take the lead by increasing its contributions and adopting strict transparency mechanisms to prevent developing countries from falling into the debt trap.
Michael Bloss criticised the fact that the summit was being held in a country that is a major producer of fossil fuels, and denounced its recent decision to increase its gas production by 12 billion m³ per year over the next decade, a plan that runs counter to the fossil fuel reduction targets set at COP28 (see EUROPE 13314/18).
He pointed the finger at Azerbaijan’s role in the re-export of Russian gas to Europe, which is thought to indirectly help to finance the war in Ukraine.
The MEP believes that the EU must ensure that COP29 facilitates concrete progress towards a global transition based on renewable energy. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)