After lengthy negotiations, the EU's environment ministers have reached a foundation for an agreement on the EU's 2040 climate target. This is according to the Danish EU presidency.
- We believe that we have the basis for a political agreement. We expect to enter into a formal agreement when we resume negotiations in a few hours, the Danish EU presidency said in a written comment early Wednesday morning.
It is not clear what the climate target will be, or what conditions and flexibility the EU countries have been given in meeting the target.
The EU ministers responsible for climate began negotiations on Tuesday morning. But already at the beginning of the meeting, Climate and Energy Minister Lars Aagaard (M) made it clear that Denmark was dependent on the willingness to compromise among the other EU countries.
- The Danish EU presidency has delivered a compromise text. Now we will see during the day whether the will to reach a compromise is present in the room, said Lars Aagaard.
The cautious announcement was an emphasis that, despite lengthy negotiations between the EU countries before the meeting, it was still open whether the goal would be achieved. Aagaard hopes that it will happen.
- As a continent, temperatures are rising faster in Europe than in other places on the planet. We are seeing forest fires in Southern Europe and melting glaciers in the Alps and to the north. So we can all feel the consequences of climate change. It is a global problem that the EU cannot solve alone, but we must do our part, said Lars Aagaard.
Difficult negotiations
However, the puzzle of reaching a qualified majority behind the 2040 goal has proven to be complicated to put together. This was emphasized on Tuesday, when the negotiations dragged on and on.
Roughly speaking, the EU countries are divided into three camps. One group says a flat no to the 2040 climate target and is not expected to be convinced. One group says yes to the target, which according to the EU Commission should be a 90 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to the level in 1990. These include countries such as Denmark and Sweden.
Germany and France are also expected to join the yes group, although this may require concessions. For example, on access to use climate credits.
But so far, the group of yes countries is not large enough. Therefore, the Danish EU presidency had to convince the last camp, consisting of climate skeptic Italy and a group of smaller countries, in order to reach the goal.
That is what apparently succeeded during the night to Wednesday. However, the ministers are expected to meet again on Wednesday to finally confirm the agreement.
The question then becomes how much Denmark has had to give up on its climate ambitions to get the last countries on board.
A review clause has already been introduced in the text. The clause allows the EU to provide more flexibility in meeting the target. Or directly lower the 2040 climate target if desired.
The EU countries may also have negotiated during the night hours to increase the use of international climate credits. Climate credits are investments in projects in third countries that reduce CO2 emissions. This can make it cheaper to reduce emissions if it happens in third countries. However, the credits are often criticized by climate organizations for being uncertain.
In the compromise text, the Danish EU presidency has cautiously proposed that three percent of emissions can be solved with climate credits. According to the presentation for the negotiations, they can be used from 2036.
Some EU countries would like to have the percentage up to, for example, five percent. And access to use the climate credits earlier.
/ritzau/
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