Edging back from the abyss of climate change

• Source: Global Times
• [01:47 September 22 2009]
• Comments

By José Manuel Barroso

Climate change is happening faster than we believed only two years ago. Continuing with business as usual almost certainly means dangerous, perhaps catastrophic, climate change during the course of this century.

This is the most important challenge for this generation of politicians.

I am now very concerned about the prospects for Copenhagen. The negotiations are dangerously close to deadlock at the moment – and such a deadlock may go far beyond a simple negotiating standoff that we can fix next year.

It risks being an acrimonious collapse, perhaps on the basis of a deep split between the developed and developing countries. The world right now cannot afford such a disastrous outcome.

So I hope that as world leaders peer over the edge of the abyss in New York and Pittsburgh this week, we will collectively conclude that we have to play an active part in driving the negotiations forward.

Now is not the time for playing poker. Now is the time for putting offers on the table, offers at the outer limits of our political constraints. That is exactly what Europe has done, and will continue to do.

Part of the answer lies in identifying the heart of the potential bargain that might yet bring us to a successful result, and here I think that the world leaders gathering in New York this week can make a real difference.

The first part of the bargain is that all developed countries need to clarify their plans on mid-term emissions reductions, and show the necessary leadership, not least in line with our responsibilities for past emissions.

If we want to achieve at least an 80 percent reduction by 2050, developed countries must strive to achieve the necessary collective 25 to 40 percent reductions by 2020. The EU is ready to go from 20 to 30 percent if others make comparable efforts.