EU leaders have agreed to enter world climate talks arguing that poorer nations will need 100 billion euros (US$148 million) a year by 2020 to tackle global warming, but failed to set levels for Europe’s contribution, a draft text said yesterday.
“The EU is ready to take its fair share of the global effort by setting an ambitious mitigation target, allowing for offsets and providing its fair share of public support,” said the text, drafted for a summit in Brussels, without saying how big that share might be.
“The European Council endorses the [EU] commission estimate that the total net incremental costs of mitigation and adaptation in developing countries could amount to around 100 billion euros annually by 2020,” the draft said.
EU leaders broke off talks Thursday night, unable to agree on how to share out the burden of helping poorer states reduce carbon dioxide emissions, just weeks ahead of the Copenhagen climate summit starting Dec. 7.
EU drafters and legal experts worked overnight in a bid to overcome objections, mainly from poorer central and Eastern European nations.
In the revised draft, which could yet change during the second day and final day of the summit, they agreed the baseline figure should “be met through a combination of [developing nations’] own efforts, the international carbon market and international public finance.”
Other figures were included in the draft text, including 22 billion to 50 billion euros by 2020, which the leaders believe will be required in international public funding as part of the overall 100 billion euros.
However, when it came to the thorny issue of which European countries should fork out what amounts, the draft text was mute.
The 27-nation bloc prides itself in leading the fight against climate change, and has already agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020, but many fear its leadership role could be compromised without a burden-sharing deal.
Europe is keen to enter international climate talks in Copenhagen speaking with a unified voice to encourage others, particularly the US and China, to commit to emissions cuts.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised expectations yesterday of an EU deal on how to pay poor countries to fight climate change at a tense summit in Brussels. Germany is one of the key obstacles to reaching a deal on the issue, diplomats close to the negotiations say.
“My feeling is that we will reach a good agreement on climate protection,” Merkel said as she arrived for the second day of the EU’s regular autumn summit in Brussels.
The summit’s main goal is to agree the EU’s position for UN climate-change negotiations in Copenhagen in December.
The bloc is keen to seize the initiative in those talks, but countries are at odds over how to do it.
The UK, Sweden and Denmark argue that the EU should make the world’s first offer on how much money the bloc should pay poor countries to help them fight climate change, but Germany argues that the bloc should not put any money on the table until others do.
“The EU will be a leader, but on condition that other countries also take on financial obligations,” Merkel said.
Sweden, the current holder of the bloc’s rotating presidency, on Friday tried to bridge the gap by suggesting that the EU should say how much funding it thinks would be needed, but stress that it would only agree a final figure if there is a deal in Copenhagen.
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