EU environment ministers look back at Copenhagen
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European Union (EU) environment ministers, meeting officially for the first time since last December, have assessed the outcome of the Copenhagen climate change conference.
Spanish Environment Minister Elena Espinosa told a news conference that the ministers had recognized the "positive outcomes" of the Copenhagen conference and that the ministers had constructive debates on further cuts of emissions.
"Once again it highlights the fact that the European Union wants to be in the lead in the fight against climate change," Espinosa said.
"It wants to cooperate as much as possible with Mexico so to create success in Cancun," the Spanish minister said.
World leaders are scheduled to meet later this year in the Mexican resort town of Cancun for another go at inking a legally-binding global accord on emission reductions after 2012.
EU environment ministers said in a statement that the Copenhagen agreements "reflect a political understanding on the long-term response to climate change, contain some provisions to implement rapid action, embody international solidarity and constitute a step in the continuing negotiations on a global legally-binding post-2012 agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change."
The ministers also welcomed the fact that "parties accounting for over 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions have associated themselves with or expressed support for the Copenhagen Accord."
They reaffirmed the bloc's commitment to achieve a 20-percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 from 1990 levels and the EU's conditional offer to move to a 30-percent reduction if other countries aim high, the statement added.
The European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, is assessing the impact on the EU and its member states in view of the conditional increase to a 30-percent emissions reduction commitment. It will deliver a final report by June.
The EU commissioner for climate action, Connie Hedegaard, told reporters that cutting emissions of greenhouse gas would benefit the long-term growth of the EU as the bloc is mapping out a EU low-emission development strategy, known as EU 2020.
The commission recently presented the Europe 2020 strategy, calling for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth for the EU by 2020. The strategy will be debated by EU leaders at a summit slated for later this month.
