The last major preparatory meeting before the Climate Change Conference in December ended today. Some 40 ministers responsible for environment and climate have been meeting to prepare for the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December. Minister for the Environment Andreas Carlgren, who is President-in-Office of the Environmental Council, comments:

“The world needs a comprehensive, ambitious and binding agreement. The job must be done now, not put off for the future. The task must be accomplished in Copenhagen. The meeting has confirmed that we want to achieve a binding agreement in Copenhagen that includes all the key elements and clear commitments for all the countries of the world. As a result of the Copenhagen meeting and with a clear timetable in place, the agreement will be turned into a legally binding document,” says Mr Carlgren.

“The Chinese and US delegations have confirmed the direction agreed by Presidents Obama and Hu Jintao. This must be seen as progress, even though concrete answers have not yet been received,” says Mr Carlgren. 

“Measures to deal with the climate challenge cannot wait. Figures and commitments must be put on the table. We are pressing for the countries that have not yet presented their commitments to do so as soon as possible. The commitments currently on the table are insufficient, and do not together reach a level that is sufficient to achieve the 2 º Celsius goal. I have urged all the industrialised countries at the meeting to present ambitious commitments. The advanced developing economies must likewise also present sufficient measures to be included in an international agreement,” says Mr Carlgren.

Denmark’s Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen participated in Tuesday’s meeting and set his sights high. The ambition is a comprehensive agreement, which means immediate implementation and clear guidelines and timeframes to establish the legally binding regulatory framework. At the meeting, Brazil and South Korea presented their recently approved national decisions on emissions reductions.

Consultations at political level are now being intensified. Mr Carlgren has convened a special meeting of the EU environment ministers to be held on 23 November in Brussels. A number of informal meetings and consultations will take place in the remaining weeks before the beginning of the Copenhagen Conference.