19 August 2009 | Luca Del Buono

 

The August round of climate talks in Bonn made little progress on the critical issues of financing and intermediate targets, but a deal on a new climate agreement by the year's end is still on the cards, Sweden's climate negotiator Anders Turesson told EurActiv as he shared his impressions on the state of the international climate negotiations in an interview.

Few substantive discussions took place on the most difficult issues, but a positive step was New Zealand's announcement of its midterm target, Turesson summed up.

"It was also important was that there was deliberation on how to translate targets into commitments," he added.

The negotiator still firmly believes that it is possible to deliver a new treaty in Copenhagen, but conceded that it will be difficult.

A significant outstanding question that remains is the "fundamental issue of who should do what" and to what extent developing countries should engage, he said.

In particular, how the engagement of poor countries should be codified in an international agreement will have to be thought out, according to Turesson.

On top of this come the issues of funding, technology transfer and adaptation, which he identified as areas where common ground would still have to be found between poor and rich countries.

Sweden plays a key part in the negotiations on the EU side, as it holds the bloc's rotating 6-month presidency until the end of the year.

Turesson stated that his country would use "all the means available" to reach out to other parties in the various international meetings during the autumn.

"We are going to try to use them as best as possible, basically to explain the EU's ideas and visions and try to convince others," he said.

The number one priority for Sweden will be to prepare the EU's position for the talks in Copenhagen, Turesson said.

"It is of pivotal importance of course that the Union has got its act together, that we have our positions, that we are ready to enhance our own commitment to go from the unilateral pledge of 20% to 30% in case we have a good agreement," he argued.

In order to take the step to increase its 2020 emissions reduction target to 30% below 1990 levels, the EU expects comparable commitments from developed countries and adequate commitments from developing nations, Turesson reiterated.

"Then of course we need to define these concepts," he stated, adding that the EU needs to be able to assess what other countries will do "in order to judge whether their efforts are indeed comparable or adequate".

At the end of the day, this will require a political decision, he said, anticipating a long process.

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Source: EurActiv

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