By Martin Banks - 7th October 2009
The time is right to establish a European strategy for 2010
Claudio Martini
Europe's outermost regions have demanded to be involved in the UN summit on climate change in Copenhagen in December.
They say this is "vital" because regions are responsible for implementing 80 per cent of measures aimed at mitigating the impact of global warming.
The much-vaunted summit in the Danish city will find a successor to the Kyotol protocol which aims to cut CO2 emissions and will be attended by heads of state and prime ministers.
The Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR), which represents some of Europe's outermost regions, says it will insist that a reference to regional authorities is included in the summit's final declaration.
The upcoming summit in Copenhagen was one of the main issues debated at the CPMR general assembly in Gothenburg last week.
Roland Anderrson, of the Vastra Gotaland regional authority, said, "We are all aware that the cost of tackling climate change will increase. But if we do not do what needs doing, it will cost us even more."
Representatives of the 160 CPMR regions said their regions had been hard hit by the economic downturn and CPMR president Claudio Martini said, "The time is right to establish a European strategy for 2010."
The assembly was the last with Frenchman Xavier Gizard as its secretary general. From January, he will be succeeded by Greek lawyer Eleni Marianou.
Meanwhile, the Danish climate minister has predicted that the summit will not reach a global climate agreement without the backing of the US to aggressively cut greenhouse gas emissions.
"In the 21st century, I cannot imagine a global climate accord without the agreement of the major economies, including naturally the United States," said Connie Hedegaard, Danish minister for climate and energy.
She also called for "the Americans to understand that their position as a world power in dealing with major global problems is at stake".
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