News Brief

EU ministers must 'stop clowning around' and announce ambitious figures for climate adaptation and mitigation in developing countries this week, an aid agency has said.

Tearfund said in a news release today that failure to do this will only prolong the current deadlock over climate negotiations and seriously compromise any chance of agreeing a climate deal at Copenhagen in December.

The EU Heads of State summit taking place from 29 - 30 October is the last key EU leaders' meeting before Copenhagen. Climate finance threatens to derail the whole negotiation process, according to Tearfund.

Ahead of this meeting, nearly 7,000 messages from Tearfund supporters were delivered to the Prime Minister calling on him to take a lead on climate finance. To hammer the point home, Tearfund clowns illustrated the EU’s cavalier attitude to the planet by fooling around with a giant globe in Parliament Square.

EU Ministers have made repeated promises to come up with a position on funding that includes specific figures for the amount of money needed for developing countries, but have failed to reach a decision during a series of EU Councils and summits this year.

Tearfund’s Head of Public Policy, Laura Webster said: “All eyes look to EU leaders to stop procrastinating and announce large-scale new public finance for adaptation and sustainable development in developing countries."

The Christian relief and development agency is calling for an EU commitment which ensures climate finance is additional to Official Development Assistance commitments of 0.7 per cent of gross national income, and to financial flows from carbon markets.

In addition to this, it says that Europe needs to make tougher mid-term emissions cuts.

"The EU’s current target of only 20 per cent cuts on 1990 levels by 2020, rising to 30 per cent in the event of an ambitious deal is weak and outdated. EU leaders should boldly commit to what the science requires – a target of at least 40 per cent cuts on 1990 levels by 2020", added Webster.

"We are now just weeks away from when a crucial climate deal must be secured at Copenhagen. The poorest and most vulnerable countries are already experiencing the devastating impacts of climate change. It is both irresponsible and immoral to think that developing countries will agree to a deal without adequate climate finance".