The European Union has proposed that countries like India and China, which are more advanced than other developing nations, should partly share the climate change adaptation and mitigation expenditure in developing countries. Stating that developing countries need 100 billion euro annually for climate change adaptation by 2020, the EU has called upon relatively bigger emerging economies to share the international public financing of 22-50 billion euro a year with industrialised countries, in accordance with their greenhouse gas emissions responsibility and ability to pay. The EU has calculated its contribution at 2-15 billion euro, while the rest of the finances will have to come from domestic sources and carbon markets in developing countries, according to the proposal.
Even as climate change talks are underway in Bangkok, Swedish environment minister Andreas Carlgren, in a statement released in New Delhi, said, “Recent encouraging public statements from the big emerging economies about limiting their emissions growth need to be turned into concrete actions and put on the negotiating table.” A total of 17 European ambassadors were present at the release of the statement.
EU ambassador to India, Daniele Smadja, clarified that India is not being asked to take up legally binding emission-reduction commitments, but quantifiable and measurable climate change mitigation actions. India has announced voluntary and unilateral climate change mitigation plans to impose a mandatory fuel efficiency cap by 2011. India also plans to implement an energy-efficient building code for all public buildings by 2012 and increase the share of renewables up to 20% by 2020. However, the country is opposed to taking on international commitments.
EU has been aiming for a comprehensive and ambitious climate change treaty which restricts global average temperature rise to a maximum of 2 degree C above pre-industrial temperatures, as recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. However, EU’s own commitment to reduce emissions by 20% by 2020 falls short of the IPCC recommendation for industrialised countries to reduce emissions to 25-40% below 1990 levels by 2020. Though EU has further offered to reduce its emissions by 30% if other industrialised countries reciprocate, this has not secured a favourable response.
Source: The Financial Express
Published on 01 October 2009