Brussels, 11/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - The day after the G8 summit and its compromise on the climate (EUROPE 9442), environment ministers from around 30 countries from industrialised and developing countries met up, on 14 June in Riksgränse in the North of Sweden, for informal post-Kyoto talks. The meeting aimed to explore possible options within the future international system for fighting global warming, which require different efforts from the countries, depending on their levels of development and responsibility for causing climate change.
Sigmar Gabriel, the German minister chairing the EU's Environment Council and the European Commission, represented by Mogens Peter Carl, director general for the environment, intend to capitalise on the progress accomplished at Heiligendamm in an effort to facilitate the formal opening up of international negotiations under UN supervision next December in Bali.
This “midnight sun” dialogue is part of a series of informal ministerial meetings that aim to prepare the ground for the conclusion of an international agreement on a global regime for fighting climate change after 2012, when commitments on greenhouse gas emissions, as defined by the Kyoto Protocol, expire.
In the autumn, the US, still loyal to their strategy, will arrange talks between 15 of the biggest contributors to global warming. These include emerging countries like China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. The G8 recognised that the “appropriate framework” for post-Kyoto international negotiations was the UN. On 24 September, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, will organise a high level meeting on climate change as a way of providing a necessary political boost to progress made at Bali. (an)