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EU Says China's Offer on Verifying Emissions a 'Good Signal'
2010-12-07 18:43:05.946 GMT
By Alex Morales
Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- The European Commission said global
warming talks are making progress on a system to verify cuts in
greenhouse-gas emissions, one of the most controversial issues
under negotiation, after China softened its position.
China during the past week has said it would make its
reductions "transparent" and submit them for international
analysis, a demand U.S. envoys placed on developing countries.
"In terms of the latest statements from China, definitely
there's a move toward the middle ground," Artur Runge-Metzger,
the envoy from the European Union's executive arm at United
Nations talks in Mexico said in an interview today. "That's a
good signal at this point in time."
The comments indicate progress in agreeing a new package of
measures to limit fossil-fuel emissions blamed for warming the
atmosphere. The talks among delegates from 193 nations in Cancun
have been marred by a rift between rich and poor nations over
the scale of reductions from industrial countries.
The UN today published draft decisions to look at how
emissions reductions by rich and poor nations will be monitored,
reported and verified, or MRV in UN jargon. The text was filled
with brackets -- an indication that the wording has yet to be
agreed by envoys.
Under the text, developed countries were urged to adopt
more ambitious, legally-binding targets. Actions by developing
nations that aren't financed by aid would have to be verified
domestically, and their reports would be analyzed by
international monitors. The text still leaves open the prospect
that the national MRV is voluntary.
"There's been quite some progress on MRV," Runge-Metzger
said. "In the first text there was nothing on MRV, and the last
text that was published covers all of the important points on
MRV. It's kind of a skeleton now, and what we need to do now is
to put flesh onto the bones."
Developing country actions that are funded by international
aid would be subject to the MRV program, as would the assistance
that pays for them, according to the document. The UN would
establish a registry to match donor funding with actions carried
out by the developing nations, the paper said.
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To contact the reporter on this story:
Alex Morales in London at +44-20-7330-7718 or
amorales2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at +44-20-7330-7862 or
landberg@bloomberg.net
