EU-DIGEST

Angela Merkel

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Germany will push for a quick and binding deal on greenhouse gas emission reductions to fight climate change, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday. "We will make very clear that we still advocate for very ambitious goals for Copenhagen," Merkel said in a televised press conference ahead of the coalition government's two-day closed-door meeting. "We must do everything in our power to quickly achieve a binding agreement. Even if we don't succeed with this in Copenhagen, this must not be postponed indefinitely." Her comments come ahead of next month's U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen and after heads of government from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum Sunday abandoned specific goals on battling climate change and accepted the U.N. talks won't agree on binding targets for cutting greenhouse gases.

Labels: Angela Merkel, Copenhagen meeting, EU, Germany, Greenhouse warming

Russia uncertain about climate plan

During the summit, the G8 industrialized nations and the nine most important emerging powers agreed that developed countries as a whole should cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent but the declaration was promptly undermined when Russia said such a target was unattainable and unacceptable. Obama said, however, that he did not expect an instant meeting of minds. 'And while we don't expect to solve the problem in one meeting, or one summit. I believe we have made important strides forward,' he said. 'I don't think I have to emphasise that climate change is one of the defining challenges of our time. The science is clear and conclusive and impacts can no longer be ignored. 'Ice sheets are melting. Sea levels are rising. Our oceans are becoming more acidic, and we've already seen its effects on weather patterns, our food and water sources, our health and our habitats,' he said.

Labels: G8, Global warming, Greenhouse warming, Russia

Rich Nation 2020 Greenhouse Cuts

The U.N. Climate Panel says that rich nations should cut by 25 to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 to avert the worst of droughts, heatwaves, flood and rising seas. A U.N. agreement from 2007 demands that developed nations make comparable efforts to fight warming. But analysts say the world faces huge arguments about what is a "comparable effort" in cutting emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels, in the run-up to a meeting in Copenhagen in December to agree a new treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol. Yet some say the costs of cuts may not be as high as feared. "Within certain limits, the measures will pay for themselves," said Markus Amman of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Vienna. Policies such as more building insulation could save money by cutting energy use.

Among national goals, U.S. President Barack Obama wants to return U.S. emissions to 1990 levels by 2020—a cut of 14.3 percent from 2007. China and the United States are top emitters. The European Union, which has done more to cut emissions than the United States since 1990, plans to cut by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. That works out as a 14.2 percent reduction from 2005, according to the EU Commission. The European Commission said last month that four factors should be taken into account to ensure comparable effort—GDP per capita, emissions per euro of economic output, population trends since 1990 and past efforts in combating warming.

Labels: Greenhouse warming