欧盟中国通讯 EU-China News
EU steers successful outcome at Durban climate change summit
The EU saw success at the United Nations summit on climate change in Durban, South Africa, getting the other participating nations to agree to a Durban Package that included renewal of the Kyoto protocol, among other stipulations. EU representatives came to the conference prepared to defend their position, and to push a proposal under which participating nations would agree to put forward a legal framework for climate change legislation by 2015. EU leaders were adamant that it was time to put into action guidelines that had been set forth at a climate summit in Cancun in 2010, including support for the Green Climate Fund for developing countries. They ultimately garnered the support of the 195 other participating nations, and achieved agreements on not only the Kyoto Protocol and Green Climate Fund, but also new market-based initiatives to slow climate change and a commitment to increased transparency in emissions action. European Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard expressed satisfaction with the EU’s handling of the Durban talks, confirming the success of the EU strategy. "When many parties after Cancun said that Durban could only implement decisions taken in Copenhagen and Cancun, the EU wanted more ambition. And got more,” she said. “We would not take a new Kyoto period unless we got in return a roadmap for the future where all countries must commit. Where the Kyoto divides the world into two categories, we will now get a system that reflects the reality of the today’s mutually interdependent world. And as we are interdependent, what we promise to do must have the same legal weight. With the agreement on a roadmap towards a new legal framework by 2015 that will involve all countries in combating climate change, the EU has achieved its key goal for the Durban climate conference’.” The EU met initial resistance from other countries, such as the United States and China, at the talks, but held firm on its commitment to effective, definitive climate action. In fact, they offered to go it alone and renew their pledge to the Kyoto Protocol, even if other nations refused to do so. That hard line eventually won other nations to their position, and the conference concluded with all agreeing to the EU proposal. The EU also partnered with the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) to iron out solutions for the “ambition gap,” referring to countries’ proposed emission reductions and the goal of keeping global warming levels below 2 degrees Celsius. Polish Environment Minister Marcin Korolec spoke highly of the efforts made by EU officials heading the climate change cause. "Today, we adopted a Durban Platform, which will lead us to a legally binding agreement being completed by the year 2015 to engage all parties,” he said. “That is significant success of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council together with European Commission, the European Union and the global community as a whole." The legal framework that is meant to be put forth in 2015 will bind all participating nations to an agreement to address greenhouse emissions. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon expressed his approval of the conference’s outcome. "The new accord is essential for stimulating greater action and for raising the level of ambition and the mobilization of resources to respond to the challenges of climate change,” he said. “The second commitment period will increase certainty for the carbon market and provide additional incentives for new investments in technology and the infrastructure necessary to fight climate change." South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane also praised the efforts made at the conference, saying: "What we have achieved in Durban will play a central role in saving tomorrow, today."