EU criticised for climate change proposals

2 November 2009

EU leaders have been criticized for failing to articulate the amount each of its 27 member states would provide to developing countries to tackle climate change.

At the two-day EU summit in Brussels at the end of October, European Union leaders proposed awarding developing countries €50bn (£44.7bn) each year until 2020.

Joris den Blanken, Greenpeace’s EU climate policy director, said, ‘The EU failed to use this opportunity to put its money where its mouth is. But all is not lost: today twenty-seven of the world’s richest nations have backed global funding to tackle climate change in developing countries.

‘The Copenhagen train is still running, but the world desperately needs some climate leadership to stop the wheels from jumping off the track. Regardless of whether climate legislation is passed in the US ahead of Copenhagen, president Obama should step up and break the deadlock in negotiation,’ he added.

The European Parliament’s environment committee has urged developed countries to commit up to €100bn to aid developing countries tackle climate change.

Speaking at the summit in Brussels, José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, said, ‘Regarding climate change, this was an important breakthrough, which brings new momentum.

‘The European Council has fully endorsed the figures put forward some weeks ago by the Commission that by 2020, developing countries will need around €100bn a year to tackle climate change.

‘The EU accepts to pay its fair share of this. International public support will need to be in the range of €22bn to €50bn a year by 2020,’ he added.

Copyright © 2009 NewNet

Tags: policy

This story was published on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 2:28 pm and is filed under Europe, energy efficiency, policy. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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