Already a whole quarter has passed since the frenzy of negotiations that led up to the 20/20/20 Package agreement at the European Council meeting last December. The series of ministerial meetings that occurred back then are being repeated this month. Environment Ministers met last Monday; Economic Ministers will meet on Tuesday 10 March; and European heads of state (the European Council) will meet on 19-20 March.

NGOs are flagging up the importance of developing countries in a global deal

A number of NGOs, including WWF, Greenpeace and Oxfam are using the opportunity to pile on the pressure for the EU to agree on solid financing commitments for an in international climate deal. With the bloc having already committed substantial sums of money towards mitigation action domestically (see the EU section in Climatico’s new quarterly report), much of the NGOs’ focus has been on financing for mitigation and adaptation in developing countries.

Although the coming global climate negotiations in Copenhagen will feature on the agendas of the Finance Ministers and the European Council, it is very possible that both meetings will pass without substantial new commitments. The state of Europe’s economy will undoubtedly be the main priority for the Finance Ministers and the Council. Copenhagen is still relatively far away, and EU leaders may want to wait for other countries – particularly the US – to give some clearer indications of their intentions before making further climate funding decisions.

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