The Council
adopted the following conclusions on the financing of policies to deal with
climate change, and agreed to submit them to the European Council, with a
view to its spring meeting (25 and 26 March 2010):
- it welcomes
the fact that Parties accounting for 80% of global emissions from energy
use have associated themselves with the Copenhagen Accord and that a
significant number of Parties have entered their mitigation commitments
and actions to the Appendix. This Accord agrees on providing a scaling
up of funding to developing countries to support enhanced action on
adaptation, mitigation – including REDD-plus – technology and capacity
building, inter alia for the establishment of efficient systems for
measurement, reporting and verification, the development of low emission
development strategies and nationally appropriate mitigation actions and
readiness to use market mechanisms. The implications of the Copenhagen
Accord for the EU´s position on climate financing will need to be
studied further;
- the Council
recalls that developed countries have committed themselves to
providing resources approaching USD 30 billion in the period 2010-2012,
with a balanced allocation between adaptation and mitigation including
REDD-plus and investments through international institutions, and with a
special emphasis on the most vulnerable and least developed countries.
It stresses the need urgently to deploy this fast-start funding to
address both the need for immediate adaptation and mitigation action and
lay the foundations for effective action in the medium and longer term
and avoid delaying ambitious action;
- the Council
reaffirms the EU and Member States' commitment to contributeEUR
2.4 billion annually over the period 2010-2012 and calls on other
parties to announce their fast start contributions. It stresses that the
EU and Member States are ready to present a preliminary state of play on
these commitments at the UNFCCC session in Bonn (31 May – 11 June 2010)
and submit EU-coordinated reports on the implementation of this
commitment at the Cancún Climate Conference and thereafter on an annual
basis. The Council encourages other contributors to do the same;
- it also
recalls developed countries' commitment in the context of meaningful mitigation
actions of developing countries, to a goal of mobilising jointly USD 100
billion a year by 2020, coming from both public and private sources, to
assist developing countries in fighting climate change. The Council
welcomes the establishment by the United Nations Secretary General of an
Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing to develop practical
proposals on how to scale up long-term financing for mitigation and
adaptation strategies in developing countries from public as well as
private sources including alternative sources of finance towards meeting
this goal, and to provide a consolidated overview of international
sources for financing climate-related investment in developing countries
which involve all relevant actors;
- the Council
expresses interest in a report on its work as soon as possible with a
view to integrating its findings in the design of the future financial
architecture for climate change. It underlines that the potential of
innovative sources of finance and of market-based instruments in
particular, including carbon markets, as well as leverage of private
finance through public finance should be taken into account. The EU is
ready to support the Advisory Group’s work by providing inputs on
potential sources of revenue. The Council stresses the need to assist
developing countries in the most effective manner and to start a
transparent process for establishing the basis for the Copenhagen Green
Climate Fund, drawing on experiences and lessons learnt from existing
funds and international financial institutions, in particular regarding
the need to ensure the cost effective deployment of increased financial
flows.
Lastly, the
Council (Ecofin) is ready to contribute in detail on practical aspects of the
financing arrangements and institutions required by the Copenhagen Accord
including the abovementioned elements. The EFC, EPC and the Friends of the
Presidency working group are invited to work further on these issues in
cooperation with the other relevant EU actors and entities.