What is the Strategy of the EU in case of combating climate change?

September 10, 2009: Greenpeace and Oxfam International criticize the EU Commission for not being ready to pay Europe’s share of the climate bill.

It is not enough. EU has to pay more than 15 billion euro (22 billion US dollars) a year to developing countries to fight climate change and its consequences, Greenpeace and Oxfam International agreed in their comments on the EU Commission’s financing proposal, published yesterday.

"The EU is trying to get away with leaving a tip rather than paying its share of the bill to protect the planet's climate," Greenpeace campaigner Joris den Blanken said to Reuters.

Elise Ford, head of Oxfam International's Brussels office, noted in the Financial Times that the proposal would "in effect, rob tomorrow's hospitals and schools in developing countries to pay for them to tackle climate change now".

The 15 billion euro is the maximum proposed by the Commission’s proposal that ranges from two billion euro to 15 billion euro. At the presentation, the Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas stressed that "the level of funding will depend on how ambitious the Copenhagen agreement turns out to be." EU wants the developing countries to rein in their emissions growth in return for greater financial aid, Financial Times reports. Stavros Dimas also urged the US and other wealthy countries to come up with their financing proposals.

"As I have said before: no money from developed nations - no deal in Copenhagen," he said.

According to the Danish Climate and Energy Minister Connie Hedegaard it was “high time” for the proposal to arrive. "It is good that the European Commission finally has mentioned the financing of a climate treaty," Hedegaard said to Deutsche Presse-Agentur, DPA.

EU estimates that the developing countries need a total of 100 billion euros a year in 2020.

According to Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, the European Union proposes to pay 15 billion euro a year.

The European Union is proposing to pay 15 billion euro (22 billion US dollars) annually to help poor countries fight climate change, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said Wednesday, according to AFP. Sweden holds the rotating EU presidency.

Reinfeldt said that the figure, which represents a target annual contribution to be reached by 2020, is a "starting-point" in negotiations ahead of a new global climate deal to be agreed at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen in December.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen welcomed the EU announcement and called for talks between rich and developing nations to speed up with only three months to go.

"It is very encouraging that the European Commission now puts forward a concrete and ambitious proposal on climate financing," he said.

"A strong message from the EU at this point will add new momentum into the global negotiations."

The Financial Times is calling the offer "modest" and notes that the EU offer falls short of what developing countries have said is needed.

Brussels is due to present proposals Thursday on how to finance the fight to control climate change. (Photo: Scanpix/EPA)

EU considers 15 bln euros to help poor nations on climate

BRUSSELS (AFP) – The European Union will propose giving developing countries 15 billion euros annually to help fight climate change, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said Wednesday.

Reinfeldt said that the figure, which represents a target annual contribution to be reached by 2020, is a "starting-point" in negotiations on a new global deal to combat climate change after Kyoto Protocol requirements expire in 2012.

"The (European) Commission has presented 15 billion (euros) as the European part of the global response," said Reinfeldt, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.

World leaders will meet at a crucial summit in Copenhagen in December to negotiate a successor to Kyoto.

Reinfeldt said the commission proposal still "has to be discussed with all the EU member states. It's a starting point of discussion."

The load will be shared between EU members based on gross domestic product "and other factors like emission levels", he added.

A European diplomat said authorities are looking for the EU's total contribution to be twice that amount, or 30 percent of the 100 billion euros the EU estimates are required per year to meet emissions reduction targets by 2020.

The other half would come from the private sector, from trade in carbon emissions rights quotas.

"What we have now is not enough," Reinfeldt added, calling for US President Barack Obama to up the US contribution while welcoming a proposal from Japan's new ruling party to come up with a quarter of the sum there.

A diplomatic source said the EU wants to see the equivalent of 12 billion euros (17.5 billion dollars) per year coming from the United States.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen welcomed the EU announcement and called for talks between rich and developing nations to move faster with only three months to go until the climate summit, which he is hosting.

"It is very encouraging that the European Commission now puts forward a concrete and ambitious proposal on climate financing," he said.

"We need to accelerate discussions between developed and developing countries on both financing and emissions reductions," he said.

"A strong message from the EU at this point will add new momentum into the global negotiations."

Rich and poorer countries have been at loggerheads for years over how to share the burden of battling climate change, with emerging industrialised economies such as Brazil, China and India demanding greater input from countries they say created the problem.

Brussels is due to present proposals on how to finance the fight to control climate change on Thursday, amid a tight squeeze on member states' finances following huge economic stimulus spending.

During a series of meetings with European parliamentary groupings aimed at endorsing his bid for another five-year term as European Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso said China must also cough up.

"It's only a proposition," said Barroso, ahead of what he said would be tough negotiations between the 27 EU member states.

"China can also pay a bit (more). I want the major emerging countries to do their bit as well."

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon last week warned that hopes of a breakthrough in time for the Copenhagen deadline depend on a summit of world leaders in New York on September 22 to discuss climate change.

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Issue date: September 9, 2009

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UN: Poor nations need $600 billion a year to adapt to climate change

A spending of around 1 percent of the world's GDP would allow developing nations to switch to economies with low carbon emissions while maintaining growth, the World Economic and Social Survey says.

Developing countries need between $500 billion and $600 billion a year from rich nations to adapt to climate change and make sure their economies grow, a UN report concluded Tuesday.

Poor nations need to join in the fight against climate change, but they will do so only if their economies are growing. That means getting massive help now from rich countries so poor nations can use clean energy for their new industries, according to the UN's World Economic and Social Survey 2009.

If developing countries simply grow the same way industrialized countries did, this will have a "devastating" impact on the earth's climate, the 207-page report stated.

Report author Richard Kozul-Wright said he calculated that a half-trillion dollar investment is needed immediately so poor countries can switch to clean energy production that won't add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

The money will also cover switching to the low energy buildings and drought-resistant crops needed to withstand climate changes already coming from previous carbon emissions, the report said.

"Developing countries can't be left alone to do it by themselves," said Kozul-Wright, calling the estimated $21 billion in development aid currently spent on climate change every year "woefully inadequate."

His estimate of $500 billion to $600 billion annually would be around 1 percent of the world's GDP per year and would allow them to switch to economies with low carbon emissions while maintaining growth, said Kozul-Wright.

He told The Associated Press that other economists have previously proposed an investment in that range but said it would be needed in several decades whereas he is convinced the massive investment should be made in the next three to five years.

Then developing countries will later be able to pay for adapting to climate change, he added.

Rich countries have promised such aid in the past but delivered much less, the report said.

"Scientists tell you that we can no longer afford ad hoc, incremental responses to the challenge," said Kozul-Wright.