Klimaatverandering centraal tijdens bijeenkomst EU-ministers van milieu (en)
Polish Presidency in EU within environment - New environmental framework in Europe
How to adapt Europe to climate change? This is the main theme of the second day of the meeting of EU delegates during the Informal Council for Environment .
"Adaptation becomes a problem equalling the problem of reducing greenhouse gases emission. The obligations connected with reducing greenhouse gases emissions is not everything that we need to do to prevent the negative effects of climate change" said professor Andrzej Kraszewski, Minister of Environment, at the beginning of the debate.
During the first session of the meeting the delegates listened to the presentation of Wolfgang Teubner, Executive Director of ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability) European Secretariat. Together they considered the role of regional and local authorities in implementing national strategies of increasing social awareness about adaptation and the major issues preventing successful adaptation.
Adaptation to climate change concerns most of the major economy and social life areas. Translating it into the language of practice it may mean acitvities in breeding new species of plants resistant to drought, increasing the anti-flood infrastructure or efficiency in using water resources, as well as counteracting to spreading insects which carries diseases. But proper financing methods for their execution are needed. Hence the discussions on the long-term financial perspective for the years 2014-2020.
In the adaptive strategies we should pay particular attention to adapting urban areas to the changed climate conditions. While the cities constitute a relatively small area of the European Union, they are the place of residence of three quarters of the Member States population. Therefore we should expect a significant development of the cities and an increase of their role in the social-economic development of the Union. On the other hand, the specifics of the urban ecosystem makes them particularly gullible to climate change, experiencing of specific phenomena such as high temperature, drought periods, heavy rains, strong winds, droughts, floods, etc.
The second day of the Informal Council for Environment saw the discussionsfocusing in its majority on the negotiation strategy of the European Union before the 17. UN Climate Conference in Durban (December 2011). The discussion launched the process of establishing the common stance of UE Member States for Durban Conference.
The previous Climate Conferences designate the direction of the works for formulating precise obligations on climate protection. During the last year's COP16 in Cancun, "sustainable decision package" was adopted, which could be a fundament of the new arrangement. Cancun`s decisions defined working programme for the current year.
Working out a clear negotiation position of the EU, taking into account the capabilities of each of the Member States, is a step towards a global arrangement on climate protection.
The Informal Council in Sopot was a contribution to shaping the European environmental policy. The task of coordinating and managing the negotiation processes within the European Union, which the Polish Presidency was entrusted with, will work towards bringing together the positions of the major parties to the negotiations for the next six months.
Ministers who participated in the discussion underlined a leadership role conducted by the EU, as well as the fact they are ready to undertake obligations of the second commitment period of Kyoto Protocol. However it is expected that activities towards climate protection will be taken by all main economies responsible for global greenhouse gases emissions.
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