La Posizione dell’UE

La Commissione europea ha ufficializzato oggi la posizione che terrà l’Ue alla 18esima Conferenza delle parti dell’United Nations framework convention on climate change(Unfccc) che si terrà a Doha, in Qatar.

Ecco il documento integrale:

La conferenza delle Nazioni Unite sui cambiamenti climatici che si terrà la prossima settimana a Doha si pone l’obiettivo ambizioso di dare attuazione all’accordo dell’anno scorso per migliorare le azioni globali per il clima. L’Unione europea mira a un risultato che tenga conto di tutti gli elementi del pacchetto di decisioni concordate a Durban, nella prospettiva di un nuovo accordo globale sul clima entro il 2015. L’Unione europea ha chiesto alla presidenza del Qatar di avviare un dibattito ministeriale volto a concordare misure concrete per ridurre le emissioni globali prima del 2020. L’Ue ribadisce fermamente quanto concordato a Durban e il suo impegno a partecipare a una seconda fase del protocollo di Kyoto.

Connie Hedegaard: Why the Doha climate conference was a success

The Doha climate conference was not a spectacular conference deciding on the 2015 global climate deal, which seems to have come as a surprise to some commentators and environmental groups. But nobody should be surprised. All countries agreed last year in Durban that the climate conferences between then and 2015 would set the stage for the big deal in 2015.

Before Doha, the EU presented its checklist to secure progress towards the new climate deal. We can tick them off now. The EU wanted Doha to mark the transition away from the old climate regime, where only developed countries have the legal obligation to reduce emissions, to the new system where all countries, developed and developing alike, will for the first time make legal commitments under the new global agreement. Check.

In Doha, we changed the very structure of our negotiations. Before, we had different working groups based on the sharp distinction between developed and developing countries. Now, we have one negotiation forum, the Durban Platform, for all countries. Check.

Doha climate gateway: the reaction

Doha climate change deal clears way for ‘damage aid’ to poor nations

Poor countries have won historic recognition of the plight they face from the ravages of climate change, wringing a pledge from rich nations that they will receive funds to repair the “loss and damage” incurred. This is the first time developing countries have received such assurances, and the first time the phrase “loss and damage from climate change” has been enshrined in an international legal document.

Developing countries had been fighting hard for the concession at the fortnight-long UN climate change talks among 195 nations in Qatar, which finished after a marathon 36-hour final session.

US envoy’s cutting remark on C02 emissions fails to add up

The Obama administration has been vigorously defending its climate record at the Doha conference in Qatar. But it appears that Todd Stern, the US state department climate envoy, has been rather selective with his facts. In his sole press conference at the meeting, Stern told reporters the US was on track to meet its commitment on cutting emissions by 2020, citing a report by the Resources for the Future thinktank.

Gulf shows signs of green revolution

It is not the sort of thing you expect to see in the middle of oil-rich Abu Dhabi, but here in a sandy spot by the emirate’s airport is a field of solar panels so vast it could easily blanket several football pitches. It is, say some, a sign of a green revolution poised to transform the Gulf’s energy landscape.

This may seem unlikely in a region with a ferocious appetite for air conditioning and desalinated water, and the distinction of being home to the world’s highest per capita emitter of greenhouse gases – Qatar – host of this week’s UN climate talks.