THE EUROPEAN Commission has warned that global warming may be happening faster than previously thought and urged world powers to agree a new climate change deal.
It has also called on US president Barack Obama to set a cap on US greenhouse gas emissions and join a global system modelled on the EU emissions trading system.
“This is almost certainly our last chance to get climate change under control before it passes the point of no return,” said EU environment commissioner Stavros Dimas, who noted that President Obama’s early statements on climate change were “tremendously encouraging”.
Mr Dimas was speaking at the launch of the EU’s draft negotiating position, which the commission has prepared for this year’s Copenhagen climate summit, where countries will gather under the auspices of the UN to agree a successor to Kyoto.
The EU proposal, which must still be approved by EU leaders, calls for the creation of an OECD-wide emissions trading system to enable world powers to trade carbon permits by 2015. “It appears Obama prefers cap and trade,” said Mr Dimas, who added that many states, such as New Zealand, Australia and Japan, were already moving in that direction.
The commission proposal is based on the goal to limit global warming to less than two degrees above the pre-industrial temperature, a point beyond which scientists believe will be dangerous. Mr Dimas warned yesterday that some recent studies suggested that current targets to cut emissions by 30 per cent by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050 may not be enough to limit the increase in temperature to two degrees. He urged world leaders to provide the cash needed to facilitate a global deal on climate change in Copenhagen.
The commission forecasts that net global spending on measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions may need to rise to a staggering €175 billion a year in 2020. More than half of this investment will be needed in developing countries, with developed countries having to provide up to €54 billion a year in annual subsidies to them.
“No money, no deal,” said Mr Dimas, when asked about the level of aid that richer nations would have to pledge to developing states to facilitate a deal in Copenhagen. A portion of this cash is expected to be raised from the EU’s emissions trading system.
The commission proposal refrains from setting specific emissions reduction targets for developing countries, such as China and India, that it would like to see in the Copenhagen agreement. But it says all but the poorest developing countries should limit their growth in collective emissions between 15-30 per cent below “business as usual” levels by 2020.
Developing states should also prepare climate change development strategies that target how they plan to reduce emissions growth in all key emitting sectors by 2011. The commission is also pushing for emissions generated by the aviation and shipping sectors to be included within any global climate change deal signed off in Copenhagen. These sectors are currently not included under the Kyoto protocol agreement.