Paet: Time is Running Out to Reach Global Climate Agreement
23.09.2009
At the high-level UN climate summit meeting that took place on Tuesday, 22 September in New York, Foreign Minister Urmas Paet emphasised that the world community does not have much time to finish preparations for the climate agreement to be concluded in December in Copenhagen. The goal of the agreement is that the average temperature on earth will not rise by more than 2°C by 2020 and that consequently the level of the ocean will not rise more than 0.7-1.4 meters.
Paet noted that this week’s meetings in the UN, with nearly 100 heads of state and heads of government attending, are some of the final preparatory meetings before the renewal of the Kyoto protocol in Copenhagen. “The Copenhagen climate agreement must guarantee the financing of our fight against climate change, as well as the system’s simplicity and transparency so that we can alleviate climate change in a practical way,” said Paet. “Reaching a post-Kyoto climate agreement in Copenhagen is essential; the greatest challenge in reaching an agreement is determining the level of responsibility to be given to each country by the agreement,” he added.
European Union member states have pledged to reduce emissions by up to 30% compared to 1990 levels by the year 2020, assuming that other industrial nations will take on comparable obligations and developing countries with emerging economies will also make adequate contributions. “All nations, except for the least developed ones, must accept ambitious and binding commitments. Efforts made by developing nations in the climate sector and the financial support given to those nations must be connected,” Paet added.
Paet also mentioned Estonia’s contributions thus far to battling the consequences of natural disasters, and emphasised that humanitarian aid alone is not enough for combating natural disasters—an agreement must be reached that helps to prevent these disasters, for example by realistically limiting greenhouse gas emissions. “The need for real results is being emphasised by the leaders of many small island nations, who have gathered at this UN climate conference and whose nations and people suffer first as a result of climate changes,” he added.
The world leaders will continue to weigh possibilities for achieving an agreement in working groups during the 64th UN summit meeting, which is focusing on the battle against climate change. The Estonian foreign minister is participating in the UN climate change roundtable on the first day of the summit along with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, European Commission Chairman Jose Manuel Barroso, and the heads of government of Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, the Federated States of Micronesia, Mongolia, Chile, the Comoros, Denmark, Ecuador, Ethiopia, the Marshall Islands, Nigeria, Peru, Syria, and Zimbabwe. “The active representation of these nations at the climate change summit is promising, but regardless, the situation prior to the Copenhagen climate conference is tense,” Paet noted.
In speeches given at the UN climate meeting, Chinese President Ju Hintao confirmed that China would increase its usage of non-fossil fuels by 15% compared to 2005 levels by the year 2020, and it would also increase its forests by 40 million hectares. Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, in his speech, promised to reduce Japan’s emissions by 25% by the year 2020.
