Informal Talks Help Ministers Shape New Climate Regime

RIKSGRANSEN, Sweden, June 15, 2007 (ENS) - "We came further in our discussions and achieved much more than I imagined that we would," Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren said Thursday after a four day informal meeting on climate change attended by officials from 30 countries at the invitation of the Swedish government.

This meeting builds on the outcomes of the G8 Summit and the outreach session with the heads of state and government from South Africa, Brazil, India, China and Mexico in Germany last week. The gathering was limited to a small number of countries of central importance in the global climate change negotiations.

Helicopter in front of the only hotel in Riksgransen, site of the informal climate talks this week. (Photo courtesy LVB.net)

Carlgren said the discussions enabled the ministers and other high level officials to have a clear picture of the positions of different countries in advance of the important forthcoming UN climate change conference at Bali, Indonesia in December.

Negotiations at the Indonesia conference are expected to lay the groundwork for a global climate agreement that will set limits on greenhouse gas emissions for when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

"We made important progress in the preparations for Bali, establishing a platform for negotiations, containing elements related to the process and the contents of a future regime," said Carlgren.

Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren convened the informal ministerial talks. (Photo courtesy Office of the Minister)

Going into the Swedish talks, German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel welcomed the climate agreement achieved at the G8 summit in Heiligendamm as a basis for further talks this year.

"First, the heads of state and government have laid the foundation for a long-term goal - reducing global greenhouse gas emission by at least 50 percent by 2050," he said. "Second, they have agreed on a roadmap to achieve this goal - negotiations on a new UN climate protection agreement are to be concluded by the end of 2009."

German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel (Photo courtesy )

All participants underlined the urgency of action. "We all share the same fundamental goal - the climate system has to be protected for the benefit of present and future generations," Carlgren said.

In Riksgransen, South African Environment Minister Marthinus Van Schalkwyk said, "I am encouraged by the strong political signal on the urgency of action and the need for intensified negotiations from the G8 Summit last week."

South African Environment Minister Marthinus Van Schalkwyk (Photo courtesy Office of the Minister)

"New initiatives and agreements that complement the multilateral regime - such as those recently proposed by the USA - are welcome, as long as they feed into the multilateral system and are not aimed at displacing it," he said.

The South African minister called upon the United States and Australia to "engage in the full multi-lateral process."

In Riksgransen, the ministers discussed a package that would include:

• Adaptation measures, to be adopted by all countries, but in particular for poor and vulnerable developing countries


• More ambitious and legally binding emission reduction targets for all developed countries


• Enhanced mitigation actions by developing countries


• Further action on the deforestation issue. The ministers emphasized that the issue of deforestation should be subject of urgent attention.


• Managing unintended consequences of adaptation and mitigation policies


• Technology development, diffusion and commercialization, in order to support decarbonization of economies


• Investment, incentives, financing, capacity-building, awareness and education

The informal talks are aimed at preserving ice and snow that makes places like Ricksgransen a paradise for skiers. (Photo courtesy FreeRadjy)

Ministers also recognized the vast potential of new and existing low carbon technologies. They said technology cooperation, mobilization of financial resources, as well as development and strengthening of carbon markets are of primary importance in a future regime.

"This is our Roadmap for Bali," said Van Schalkwyk. "We must turn talk into action; discussions into negotiations. Should this fail, we will place an unmanageable burden on future generations."

Participant countries included - Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Grenada, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Kenya, Pakistan, South Africa, Switzerland, Tuvalu, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The meeting in Riksgransen was the third of its kind. The first meeting was held in Greenland in 2005 and the second in South Africa in 2006.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2007. All rights reserved.