UNFCCC Cop - EU ‘unlikely to increase reduction target’

Doha, 26 November (Argus) — The EU is unlikely to raise its emissions reduction target from 20pc to 30pc by 2020 because of a lack of commitment from other major economies, the EU's chief climate negotiator Artur Runge-Metzger said at the UN climate change convention in Doha today.

“It will not happen in Doha,” he told Argus on the sidelines of the convention. “We are not raising expectations here.”

The EU is waiting for a commitment from major economies, including the US, Japan and Australia, to lift their emissions reduction targets, Runge-Metzger said. Countries including China, India and South Africa must also play their part, he said.

“This is a collective problem. We have taken the lead by saying that we will move to 30pc if other countries raise their ambition. We want countries to move to the upper end.”

But no countries have indicated that they will do so at Doha, he said. Because of a lack of ambition from other countries, “the whole system is choked up,” he said. The US earlier today said it will not increase its target from 17pc below 2005 levels by 2020.

“Because the US already clearly says that it cannot move, we do not think there will be a productive discussion on upping individual country targets in Doha,” Runge-Metzger said. But this should not impede future progress, he cautioned. “Doha should not be the ceiling, it should be the floor. We are not closing the discussion. I don't think the US will close the door on this debate — you will see a decision that countries want to discuss this in the coming years.”

The EU is committed to providing climate finance next year and beyond, he emphasised. Talks in Doha must focus on finance issues, particularly moving ahead with the Green Climate Fund.

Many developing countries discussed concerns over a potential funding gap during the sessions today, he said. “The concern comes from the fact that this is the last year of fast-start finance. The EU is going to deliver on its promise and many countries are asking 'what next?' We can reassure them that there will be no financing gap,” he said. The European Commission is currently working on the EU budget regarding climate finance, he added.

But the question of reaching $100bn by 2020 will not be completely resolved in Doha, he cautioned. “We need to set out a good work programme to address this,” he said.

Meanwhile, the EU is still “putting further measures on the table” apart from its conditional offer to move to 30pc, Runge-Metzger said. The energy efficiency directive, adopted in July, could take the EU a few percentage points beyond a 20pc reduction, he said. The EU also recently set out a range of options to tighten the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS), to make it more stringent, he said. “On the one hand, we try to work on ambition on our own legislation and on the other hand, we try to convince our partners that more needs to be done.”

In Doha, there must be a focus on adopting a second commitment period of the Kyoto protocol to ensure that it is implemented from 1 January, to remove any gap, he added. This is a top priority for the EU at the negotiations.

Meanwhile, the question of a carry-over of surplus assigned amount units (AAUs) into a second Kyoto commitment period has yet to be resolved within the EU, he said. “This is still an open question with the EU. We will look in interest at two proposals — one from developing countries and one from our Swiss colleagues. We will have discussions around those to see how this can be taken forward.” The EU has said it wants to find a solution on AAU carry-over that maintains environmental integrity.

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