The last week of the UN summit on climate change begins today in Durban, South Africa. The main topics on the table for discussion are: the renewal of the Kyoto protocol, the elaboration of a roadmap to reach a new global agreement by 2015 and the application of the commitments signed last year at the COP in Cancun.
Europe is pushing hard to obtain an overall commitment to reduce greenhouse gases, i.e. the elements that have the greatest impact on the global calculation of emissions. The challenge is to keep global warming below the 2°C threshold. The EU has already set the EU target of a 20% reduction in emissions by 2020 and an upgrade to 30% by the same date.
A little surprise comes from China's position. The leader of the Chinese delegation, Xie Zhenhua, said that the country will earnestly fulfill international responsibilities and duties in order to contribute the most to global climate protection, and added that China after 2020 could also negotiate a document legally binding, provided that there are new commitments to cut carbon emissions from rich countries (China reiterates that it is a developing country) together with hundreds of billions of dollars of climate finance on the table at disposition of the poorest countries.
In the new package of the European program on research and innovation, Horizon 2020, just proposed by the EU Commission, part of the funds will be allocated to climate-related research. “Horizon 2020 is good news for both the climate and our economic growth,” said EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard. A third of the entire Horizon 2020 budget will go to climate-related research, more than 25 billion euros. While at least 60% of the total budget will be related to sustainable development issues. With this proposal, the European Commission supports Europe's determination to remain at the forefront of the fight against climate change. This will stimulate growth and job creation here in Europe,' concluded the Commissioner.
