EU could pay poor member states to cut emissions

The European Union could offer poorer member states such as Poland millions of euros to help them cut their greenhouse-gas emissions, if they in turn agree to help even poorer countries outside Europe, diplomats in Brussels said on 13 October. The proposal comes as the EU is struggling to get member states to approve a common strategy on funding the global fight against climate change, so that it can seize the initiative in international talks. “The EU may provide support for less prosperous, relatively emission-intensive member states to help reduce their emissions,” a draft agreement drawn up for a meeting of EU finance ministers on October 20 read. But at the same time, all EU member states are “ready to contribute their fair share of public financing” to help developing countries reduce their own emissions, the draft, read. In particular, the EU will pay its “fair share” of fast-track funding totalling €5-7 billion over the next three years to kick-start developing countries’ fight against climate change, it read. The EU sees itself as a leader in international talks on fighting climate change because it is the only major economy to have already passed legislation aimed at cutting its greenhouse-gas emissions. The talks are set to come to a head in Copenhagen in December. But the bloc has been criticized for failing to put hard numbers on the table explaining how much funding it will give poor countries and how it will split the bill between its member states. The European Commission puts the global funding need at about €100 billion a year by 2020. Member states have not yet endorsed that figure. The draft declaration says only that it is a “useful estimate” which is nonetheless uncertain and aggregate. Richer member states in Western Europe say that all EU members should accept a common formula for calculating their share of the overall EU bill, based on a combination of greenhouse-gas emissions and national wealth. But poorer states with highly-polluting industries, such as Poland, argue that that would make them pay an unfair amount because their emissions are above average and their income below average.