29/11/2010

The Cancun Conference -
a new go at the fight against climate change?
 

by Thomas Bickl, Press Adviser to the Environment Committee

One year after the rather sobering UN Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change, world leaders will meet in Cancun, Mexico, for a follow-up gathering from 29 November to 10 December.

Last year's Copenhagen Conference

At the Copenhagen summit, regrettably, no real progress was made. No trace of hard-and-fast commitments for industrialized countries to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions - an aim the EU had been working hard for. Instead, the only quantifiable declaration was the recognition that global warming had to be limited to two degrees celsius, an obvious statement scientists had repeatedly made on previous occasions. It was mainly China and the U.S. that prevented the Conference from accepting binding reduction targets.

What is the way forward?

EU leaders have developed a two-fold strategy. Drawing on existing EU decisions, they would offer an internationally binding reduction target of 20 percent. If other major economic players followed, the target could be lifted to 30 percent. However, a go-it-alone option beyond 20 percent would not be on the cards as it would hamper the EU's competitiveness worldwide.

Hopes for the Cancun Conference

And what can the Cancun Conference achieve? It is no secret that expectations are low. The U.S. are busy paving the way to economic recovery against the background of an enormous budget deficit. China and India find it difficult to accept a 'straightjacket' of binding CO2 reductions as their economies are going to further expand over the medium and long term.

The EPP Group's position

The EPP Group is encouraging EU leaders not to dilute the targets the EU has set itself. Rather, every effort must be made to persuade other global players that the further reduction of greenhouse gases is much cheaper than the long-term costs of coping with increased climate change. In the medium term, developing technologies to fight climate change will create green jobs in Europe and help export green technologies to other regions in the world.

An EPP Group delegation chaired by MEP Karl-Heinz Florenz will be at the Cancun Conference engaging in the debates on the ground. Fighting climate change is a binding task of survival. Not only for Europe, but for the whole planet. Europe needs to continue to be the frontrunner. The EU must credibly stick to its own targets. And if it proves that green technology creates jobs, internationally binding targets are not completely out of sight.