Brussels, 13/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - Preparations are continuing apace for the UN Climate conference in Copenhagen (7-18 December 2009) which the EU and the UN hope will bring agreement for the post-Kyoto period. It was to discussion of these preparations that European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, Chairman of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr Rajendra Pachauri and author on the economic cost of climate change Nicolas Stern devoted their working breakfast in Brussels on Wednesday 13 May. All agreed that the continued lack of commitment on the part of industrialised countries to a binding target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, similar to the EU's plan for all developed countries (-30% compared with 1990 levels) remains the major difficulty for negotiations. All three, however, expressed confidence that an ambitious global agreement, based on each country contributing a fair share to the overall effort, would be reached in December. By coincidence, the climate change and energy agenda was also on the agenda for discussion at a working lunch, also on Wednesday, for Barroso and new Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, who will host the Copenhagen conference. The two will meet again in Copenhagen on 26 May to continue their discussions.
“We've had an excellent discussion on the state of preparations for a deal in Copenhagen and we've also started to talk about what we have to do after Copenhagen,” Barroso said after his meeting with the two internationally renowned experts. Before Copenhagen, there is a need to “build momentum” prior to the G8 meeting in L'Aquila, Italy on 7-9 July, the leaders' meeting of the Major Economies Forum and the UN meetings in September. “2020 is an important date, but in fact it only marks the halfway point between the UN baseline of 1990 and 2050”, and it is in 2050 that the major changes have to be put in place, Barroso observed, to give an idea of the journey to be travelled before Copenhagen. With the formal adoption of the Energy-Climate Change package on 23 April, “Europe once again showed leadership through action, not words - becoming the first region in the world to implement such far-reaching, legally binding climate and energy targets. But we are very ready to share that leadership,” he stated, indicating that “it's now time to move from a European deal to a global deal”. After discussions with US, Canadian and Japanese leaders, Barroso will meet the leaders of China and Russia before the end of May (a summit with Dmitri Medvedev is scheduled for next week).
Nicolas Stern, acknowledging the work of the IPCC and the EU's leadership, said that there was no doubt as to what had to be done: overall emissions had to be reduced by 50% between 1990 and 2050 and, for the deal to be a fair one, the rich countries had to reduce their emissions by 80% by 2050, with an interim target. This assumes that emissions will peak in 2015 and then begin to fall. What is at stake is huge because it is not only a matter of saving the planet, but also of continuing growth and tackling poverty, he said. The leadership shown by the EU, he said, had been fundamental in terms of targets, technologies and mechanisms (such as the Emissions Trading Scheme - ETS), and “it is vital that the EU's leadership continues. If Europe becomes fragile, the effect on international negotiations will be very large. Thinking that we can let up because of the crisis is wrong. If we delay action in risky circumstances, the risk becomes bigger. We have to invest in low-carbon technology,” he argued, opining that “the low-carbon picture is very attractive”.
When asked to comment on the US, Australian and Chinese targets, Stern answered: “The EU is on the right lines. The US (with reduction of between 15 and 20% in 2020 compared with 2005, which corresponds to a zero or 5% reduction on 1990 levels) and Australia fall short. But it has to be recognised that they have come a remarkable way over the last two years”. China's energy strategy, which will begin in 2011, will refer to emissions reductions and the Chinese predict that their emissions will peak in 2020. “We have to help overcome poverty by sharing technology with China,” Stern urged. Rajendra Pachauri said that the Obama administration, more concerned by a major economic crisis, had, nonetheless, adopted “key positions” which give “enormous hope”. He added: “I am confident that, in Copenhagen, the US will be part of the global community”.
Asked whether Europe would be the champion of a regulatory approach with the US championing massive investment in renewable energy and green employment, Pachauri said that, certainly, the US had adopted a recovery plan based on green jobs, but the EU was leading in terms of emissions reductions from transport and energy efficiency in the building industry. He added: “The US have seen the crisis as an opportunity for public investment, but they are also adopting regulatory measures. The US is in a catch-up stage”. Stern suggested that emissions reduction required public authorities to put a price on emissions (through the ETS), regulation and support for new technologies. “Progress has been made on all three fronts in the US and in the EU, but the US has to catch up”. Investment will be driven by the private sector. “It is important that the EU signals to industry that it should seize this opportunity to become the leader in new technologies,” Stern noted. (A.N./transl.rt)