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Published: 29 Nov 2010
Governments, civil society and business
representatives are convening in Cancun,
Mexico, on 29 November – 10 December for
a United Nations conference (COP16) on combating
climate change. In the run up to the conference,
the European Union reiterated its desire
to see a balanced set of decisions in Cancún.
Recent report from the European Environment
Agency shows that greenhouse gas emissions
from the European Union are around 17 %
below their 11000 levels and the downward
trend observed in recent years is expected
to continue. Despite these reductions in
the EU, global emissions are on the rise.
As the EU emissions currently represent
around 12 % of the total global emissions,
a more comprehensive response is needed
in order to limit average global warming
to below 2 degrees by the end of this century.
The conference in Cancun
is part of UN negotiations aimed at drawing
up a global regime to combat climate change
for the period after 2012, when key provisions
of the Kyoto Protocol will expire. For the
EU, the ultimate objective of the UN process
must be to establish an ambitious comprehensive
and legally binding global framework that
engages all countries in combating climate
change.
The last negotiating
session before COP16 took place in Tianjin,
China from 4 to 9 October. Commenting after
the Tianjin round, Connie Hedegaard, EU
Commissioner for Climate Action, and Joke
Schauvliege, Flemish Minister for the Environment
representing the Belgian Presidency of the
Council said: ‘There is a strong will that
the European Union will continue its leadership
in the fight against climate change and
will speak with one voice in Cancún.
In Cancún we want to see a balanced
set of decisions’.
‘In particular we want
to see concrete decisions on Forestry, Adaptation,
Measurement, Reporting, Verification (MRV)
and on Technological Development. We can
assure the world that the EU will deliver
on the fast start funding. The Parties must
build on the Copenhagen Accord’.
‘The EU has no problem
with the second commitment period of the
Kyoto Protocol; we have built our EU legislation
on Kyoto Protocol principles and therefore
we can accept a second commitment period,
but we would not do it without conditions.
All major economies will have to commit
themselves, and areas where the present
Kyoto Protocol lacks environmental integrity
need to be addressed'.
The EEA supports European
policy makers by preparing each year the
EU's greenhouse gases inventory report to
the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) and by presenting a yearly overview
of the progress actually seen in European
countries towards their respective targets
under the Kyoto Protocol. Moreover, the
EEA addresses climate change in Europe in
terms of impact, vulnerability and adaptation
measures.
