Durban climate conference: all countries commit to emission reductions, but only in 2020
14.12.2011
The EU's main competitor countries will not be subject to legally binding climate obligations before 2020. The EU is therefore not able to tighten unilaterally its own current targets. Now the priority is to influence the content of the upcoming global agreement.
The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban reached a decision regarding only the schedule for proceeding towards a new climate agreement that would be binding for all countries. This is expected to be completed in 2015 and enter into force in 2020. Until then, the Kyoto Protocol is being extended.According to Tuuli Mäkelä, an expert at EK, one positive outcome of the Durban climate conference is that the new agreement would introduce binding obligations for the first time for all countries.
“Until 2020, however, the EU is still the only significant player that has a legally binding target for reducing emissions. For European companies this distorts competition in the global markets due to the environmental costs that they have to bear,” Mäkelä comments.
Once the targets for the extended period of the Kyoto Protocol are agreed, the EU is not in the position to increase its current emission reduction target of 20 percent. The parties to the Kyoto Protocol are responsible for only 15 percent of global emissions, and the protocol does not cover the EU’s major competitors or the countries responsible for the most emissions.
In light of the outcome of the Durban climate conference, the EU’s internal emissions target debate should now focus on the period after 2020. As Mäkelä notes, the content of the agreement that will enter into force at that time is still completely open.
“The EU should make every effort to ensuring that all countries commit to the most equitable obligations to protect the climate. This would bring multiple benefits: emissions would be reduced worldwide, competition would be more fair, and global markets would be created for low-carbon technologies.”
From the perspective of European business, the aim should be to ensure that all companies have a level playing field regardless of their location.
Further information:
Tuuli Mäkelä, Confederation of Finnish Industries EK, tel. +358 (0)50 3303 245, tuuli.makela@ek.fi
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