Brussels, 25/08/2009 (Agence Europe) - The EU troika is currently in Washington (23-26 August) for transatlantic climate talks in the hope of making a breakthrough in UNFCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) talks that have been advancing at a snail's pace. Meetings are scheduled with Michael Froman, Deputy National Security Adviser for International Economic Affairs, and Todd Stern, Special Envoy for Climate Change.
Andreas Carlgren, Swedish Environment Minister who heads the troika (Swedish Council Presidency, European Commission, future Spanish Presidency), is determined to use all EU bilateral contacts to achieve an ambitious global agreement in Copenhagen at the end of the year (COP 15, 7-18 December). After the troika's first visit to China, it was due to go to the United States, a key partner which, within the UNFCC, does not negotiate at the table of the Kyoto Protocol parties but will host the Major Economies Forum in September as well as the G20 in Pittsburgh, which will perhaps allow progress to be made towards financing the fight against global warming.
“The pace of the negotiations is slow, and they need a kick-start at political level if they are to be concluded in Copenhagen. It is vital that the US is involved in the next climate agreement if we are to manage climate issues. Several important first steps have been taken under the Obama administration, but the world needs, and the EU expects, more from the US”, Andreas Carlgren said on Monday 24 August. But time is running short. After the informal session of international talks in Bonn where minimal progress was made (EUROPE 9959), there remain only two weeks of formal talks within the UN framework.
Although the Major Economies Forum in July (in l'Aquila) rallied to the goal of keeping the average rise in the planet's surface temperature below 2°C compared to the pre-industrial era, it did not subscribe to a 50% reduction in global emissions by the year 2050. Industrialised countries still have to commit themselves to medium-term reduction objectives comparable to those proposed by the EU for 2020 (-20% unilaterally, -30% if the others follow suit). Such timid reductions are criticised by the group of developing countries which would like industrialised countries to cut emissions by 40% by 2020. The EU still expects developing countries to take a collective commitment to deviate their emissions from the “business as usual” scenario, within the framework of an international agreement. On Monday 24 August in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), African countries reiterated that they will seek in Copenhagen to obtain billions of dollars from industrialised countries to compensate for global warming that they already have to suffer although they did not cause it. (A.N./transl.jl)