E.U. Leaders Pledge Funds to Combat Global Warming

Last month, a report came out that suggested developing nations will need at least $500 billion a year to fight the impact of climate change. Well, a gaggle of European Union leaders got together late last week, and set the bar instead at 100 billion euros (let's say about $148 billion American). But on the positive side, the E.U. leaders did agree to contribute to a global fund that would go towards helping developing nations pay to combat climate change. It is contingent, however, on other nations making the same pledge at the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change. The New York Times sums up:

Mr. Reinfeldt, the Swedish prime minister, said...between 22 billion euros and 50 billion euros would have to come from public funds, as opposed to private sources like investments in carbon-reduction projects.

Mr. Reinfeldt also said that E.U. nations could make a voluntary decision to contribute to a so-called fast-track mechanism that would make funds available immediately to developing countries.

Environmentalists are calling this an agreement without teeth, and instead had just set vague goals without mechanisms to reach them, and focusing more on what the global community ought to do, and not what Europe should do.

The concern here, I think, is that this meeting was hopefully going to set some concrete pledges prior to Copenhagen, so European negotiators could say, "See, this is what we've already done, unilaterally, and so you other nations ought to be doing something as well." It's leading by example instead of what some fear is happening now, which is setting vague global goals and then hedging on how to reach them. As E.U. president Jose Manual Barroso said ""Our offer is not a blank check. We are ready to act, if our partners deliver." This is classic "I'll do it if you will" who's going to blink first negotiating, and if remember anything from my one international politics class, this doesn't usually get anyone to do anything.

So while it's good to see the E.U. leaders negotiating among themselves in preparation to Copenhagen, unfortunately, the process has not led to an accord that sets an example for the global community, and doesn't necessarily advance the Copenhagen agenda towards any firm treaty. Six weeks, people. Six weeks.

photo credit: dimnikolov's flickr photostream/Creative Commons