Miliband hoping for better Copenhagen pact beyond Kyoto

Ed Miliband, the UK’s Energy and Climate Change Secretary, earlier on Monday said that funds to assist developing nations in the fight against climate should be treated as vital part of the Copenhagen agreement. He informed that the EU had promised a total of €7.2 billion in aid for the period 2010-2012 to help developing countries to mitigate the impact of climate change, yet no figures had been revealed for 2013 and onwards.

Miliband also stressed that this month’s climate conference is the best time to achieve an agreement, because the current US president is committed to the global warming issue and the entire population is watching the progress of the Copenhagen talks. However, the energy secretary said that attaining a deal could not be easy.

During a conference session, the government leader urged fellow policymakers to come up with an agreement that goes beyond the Kyoto Protocol. Miliband informed that carbon emissions worldwide have increased since Kyoto and stressed that the central goal of the Copenhagen negotiations is to make sure that countries achieve their emission targets by 2020.

On the same day, environment ministers from Brazil, China, India and South Africa walked out from a ministerial meeting, protesting that the Kyoto Protocol agreement is being ignored. Several African delegations also threatened to boycott the proceedings.

Emerging countries China and India want the negotiations to quickly deal with the Kyoto Protocol, especially the targets for 2013-2018. However, the EU, Australia and other developed nations want to merge the discussions into one track to achieve a single agreement with larger obligations on emerging economies.

Noting that the UK is against continuing the Kyoto Protocol, where only a few governments were under the legal treaty, Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development, urged government leaders to come up with an inclusive agreement at the end of the Copenhagen conference.