UN climate talks: Commitment to global deal in 2015 remains despite fraught summit

Commenting on the outcome of the UN climate summit in Lima (UNFCCC COP20), Greens/EFA climate change spokesman Bas Eickhout said: “The good news is that no one is questioning the need to reach a global deal on climate change in Paris in 2015, despite the fraught nature of the Lima summit. Unfortunately, the momentum created by the US-China agreement on climate change has not led to any further concrete steps.

“The UN climate negotiations and politicians are lagging behind the shift that is already taking place in our economies, driven by civil society and businesses. Most importantly, there is still no clarity on the crucial issue of aid for developing countries to adapt to and take measures to prevent climate change, meaning the bridge between the rich and the poor countries has not been built yet. Meanwhile, it is already clear that the greenhouse gas reduction pledges major emitters will submit for the March deadline will not be sufficient to keep us on a safe path to staying below the goal of limiting warming to 2 Degrees. Public pressure must step up if we are to close this gap."

Greens/EFA climate and energy spokesperson Yannick Jadot added: “The EU cannot pretend to be a leader in climate protection if it does not take the need for adequate international climate finance in developing countries seriously. The EU must do its homework well before Paris to be ready to commit to stable and predictable finance with a view to meeting the goal of a $100 billion dollar fund by 2020, and beyond. We welcome the initiative of Luxembourg to organize an informal council of EU environment ministers in July on climate finance but finance ministers must also attend to ensure any commitments will be immediately implemented.

“The European Commission is planning extra summits with countries from outside the EU to make sure Paris will be a success. We as Greens will campaign throughout the year to build up public pressure to make sure Paris 2015 will be the success our planet urgently needs.”

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