Back to the drawing-board

Falling short of EU ambition

õ The world should work to restrict global warming to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
The EU had hoped for targets to lock countries into this goal, but had also wanted a commitment to cut global emissions by 50% by 2050 and by 80%-95% for developed countries.
õ Countries should take action to reduce emissions in line with science. Emission reduction targets from developing countries and developing country efforts – “nationally appropriate mitigation actions” (NAMAs) – will be set out in an annexe to the document.
The EU wanted actions that would cut emissions by at least 25% by 2020 compared to 1990 – in line with the lower estimated range given by scientists through the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. But the pledges being discussed add up to a reduction of just 18%.
õ Least-developed countries and those most vulnerable to climate change should get funding “approaching $30 billion” (€21bn) between 2010 and 2012 to help them adapt to climate change.
The Copenhagen accord is very close to the EU goals on fast-track finance. The EU thinks that the least-developed countries should get €15bn-€21bn in 2010-12 and has promised to contribute €7.4bn ($10.2bn) of this total over three years.
õ Rich countries should mobilise to raise $100bn (€70bn) a year from public and private sources.
EU leaders agreed in October that the total bill could be around €100bn - €30bn more than the estimate in the UN accord.
õ Deadlines: Early drafts of the declaration referred to reaching a binding legal agreement “as soon as possible” and no later than December 2010 at the next big climate conference in Mexico City. But this was dropped from the final text. A review of the Copenhagen accord is planned for 2015, which will consider strengthening the goals to limit temperature rises to 1.5°C.
The EU wanted a clear timetable and a promise to deliver a legally binding treaty, but failed to get this. The 2015 review does, though, fit with the thinking of Stavros Dimas, the European commissioner for the environment.