EU must lead on climate talks, says UNFCC chief

The EU must lead the way at the upcoming UN climate change talks in Poznan, a senior UN official has said.

Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, writes in the latest issue of the Parliament Magazine that European leaders should take the financial crisis in their stride and keep up the momentum on measures to tackle climate change.

“The meeting will…be an important opportunity for ministers to determine the key ingredients of a universally shared vision on international cooperation to address climate change,” he says.

“Crucially, this vision needs to include both the financial architecture and the types of mechanisms needed to generate additional financial resources.”

De Boer says that the EU’s progress with its climate and energy package will play a key role in reaching a deal at the UN climate convention in Copenhagen in December next year.

The climate and energy package is due to be negotiated by heads of state and government at European council on 11 and 12 December.

“The agreement of the EU’s energy and climate package in December has the potential to send a vital signal to the international negotiating process, demonstrating that industrialised countries are willing to live up to their promises,” says de Boer.

“This is why in the second week of December, the eyes of the world will not only be firmly set on the high-level segment of the UN climate change conference in Poznan, but on European leaders simultaneously meeting in Brussels to agree their flagship package… Europe needs to continue to show leadership in reducing its own emissions, [but] it must also continue to play a leading role in the field of international cooperation.”

De Boer adds that closer inspection of finances in the wake of the global economic downturn, rather than hindering efforts to tackle climate change, will provide a useful opportunity for action.

“Europe can channel funds to where they have the greatest effect in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. A new global technology mechanism, agreed in Copenhagen next year, could further decisively boost research and development by pooling global funds to support a coordinated research and development agenda,” he says. 

“The agreed outcome in Copenhagen in 2009 needs to constitute an effective and ambitious policy framework that sets a clear overall direction for future global climate change action.”

“The EU as a conglomeration of industrialised nations can take the lead…by actively helping to unlock all the political elements of the new deal.”

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