CLIMATE CHANGE:EU LEADERS have agreed that the amount of money they plan to give to developing countries to tackle climate change should be based on their "ability to pay" and the amount of emissions they produce.
They have also agreed to work out a burden-sharing formula showing how much cash each EU state will be required to give to the developing world before a key United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen in December.
“All countries except the least developed should contribute to the financing of the fight against climate change in developing countries . . . the main principles of contribution should be the ability to pay and the responsibility for emissions,” said the conclusions of yesterday’s EU summit.
Climate change experts say developing countries will need more than €150 billion by 2020 to help curb greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the effect of climate change, which is expected to lead to more severe weather such as hurricanes and droughts in the years ahead.
Working out a mechanism to help the developing world is a key part of negotiations on a new international climate change deal, which are expected to be concluded at the Copenhagen summit.
But the huge sums involved have prompted concerns in some EU states, particularly given the economic crisis.
Poland, in particular, has been pushing to ensure that a burden-sharing mechanism specifying how much each EU state will pay towards the developing world is agreed before the Copenhagen summit.
A footnote added to the formal summit conclusions outlined that this formula should be agreed “in good time” before Copenhagen.
Warsaw is also still pressuring its EU partners to offer it and other countries concessions that would limit their liability under the proposed formula.
For example, it has floated the possibility that the burden-sharing mechanism should also take into account the amount of overseas development aid that countries currently pay out.
But this proposal is being opposed by many EU states, including Ireland.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) criticised EU leaders for failing to commit to a figure for developing countries.
“The council has once again failed to put a figure on the table on the actual support it is prepared to commit to, or detail the mechanisms for raising it,” said a WWF statement.