Struggling to bolster its claims of leadership in the fight against climate change, the European Union has announced a commitment of ¤2.4 billion (Rs 13,760 crore) annually between 2010 and 2012 to help developing countries adapt to the effects of global warming.
Following a two-day summit of the heads of state and government of the EU’s 27 member-countries here, the announcement puts the first firm figure for the financing of any global deal on the table. The issue of who will pick up the tab for the costs of climate change mitigation and adaptation is one of the thorniest being tackled at Copenhagen currently.
The European Commission had estimated that global financing of about ¤5-7 billion (Rs 34,400-48,200 crore) per year would be needed in the short term to immediately launch climate adaptation projects in poor countries, of which member states were urged to contribute up to ¤2 billion.
Friday’s pledge thus exceeded the EU’s own target, in large part due to the efforts of Britain, which with France and Germany will be paying the lion’s share.
Speaking to reporters here, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the UK had upped its earlier pledge of $1.3-1.95 billion (Rs 6,070-9,110 crore) over the three-year period and was open to the possibility of increasing that sum to $2.44 billion (Rs 11,400 crore) at the Copenhagen talks next week. France and Germany will contribute $1.85 billion (Rs 8,640 crore) apiece.
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said at a press conference that all 27 members of the bloc have agreed to commit money to the fast-start fund, though the donations of some of the central and eastern European states are believed to be nominal.
Reinfeldt also urged “other developed parts of the world to make contributions so as to realize the target of ¤7 billion (Rs 48,200 crore) a year.”
However, critics called the figures paltry, saying ¤7-odd billion a year pales in comparison to the huge stimulus packages and bank bailouts handed out by many governments in the wake of the global financial crisis.
Further, it remained unclear if the numbers announced on Friday amounted to new money or were simply a reshuffling of development aid already promised by Europe to the developing world for other projects. Leaked papers last month showed the EU to have removed lines in one of the draft texts up for discussion at Copenhagen: it had stressed the principle that climate change aid should be on top of existing development aid.
Responding to this charge, Reinfeldt was vague. He said the ¤7.2 billion committed would come from both “old and new resources” and the important thing was that this was money “directed to the years between the years 2010-2013 and to climate adaptation measures”.
The EU also remained silent on firm numbers for medium and long-term financing, saying only that Europe “was ready to take its fair share, but needed contributions from others”. The European Commission has estimated that developing countries will need ¤100 billion (Rs 6.9 lakh crore) annually by 2020.
On the other big issue, of emissions cuts, the EU stuck to its established position of pledging a 20 per cent cut by 2020 over 1990 levels, a target it is willing to raise to 30 percent if other industrialised countries make similar commitments of a 25-30 per cent cut. EU figures published last week show the collective pledges of developed countries outside of the EU to currently amount to a mere 13 per cent reduction.
