EU opts for 'flexible' climate change strategy

The EU's negotiating strategy on a successor to the Kyoto protocol will be based on engagement and flexibility, EU environment ministers agreed on Monday.

Ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, agreed to an acquiescent approach in the hope of clinching early agreement on shaping a post-2012 Kyoto climate change deal, when talks begin in Montreal at the end of November

“[Our strategy] shows that the EU is looking to see the processes start in Montreal but leaves a certain amount of flexibility,” said UK environment minister Margaret Beckett, adding that environment ministers believed that it would be a mistake to be “too prescriptive” at this stage.

But environmental groups were disappointed with the outcome, arguing that the strategy lacked clarity and ignored the urgency of setting a clear end date for the completion of post-Kyoto negotiations.

EU ministers also dropped from the negotiating position all references to the EU’s goal of reducing emission levels by up to 30 per cent by 2020.

“The ministers had grand words to illustrate the current climate crisis and the urgency to act, but failed to turn it into an ambitious action agenda,” said Jan Kowalzig of Friends of the Earth.

“The EU cannot afford to give up its leadership role…it must make clear in Montreal that a new phase of commitments must be negotiated and result in deeper, absolute and mandatory emission cuts by industrialised countries.”

Beckett hit back at suggestions that the text’s ‘flexibility’ really meant reduced EU expectations on clinching a global climate change deal, in the face of US, Chinese and Indian hostility.

“This is not a sign that the EU is in some way diminishing our pursuit of strong action to tackle climate change. It is merely a way of saying that we recognise that we have to engage with other players, and we can’t simply dictate,” she told journalists.

“We want to see as many of our global partners as possible engaged in this dialogue,” said Beckett, adding “it’s a global problem that can only be solved by global action.”

The UN COP11 climate change talks begin on November 28 in Montreal, Canada.

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