Ministers from the G8 countries have agreed that climate and the economic crisis require a common solution
A three-day meeting of the G8 Environment Ministers comes to a climax today in Syracuse, Italy. The meeting has also been attended by the Czech Minister of the Environment, Martin Bursík, as the President-in-office of the EU Environment Council.
In addition to the G8 countries (France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K., the U.S.A., Canada and Russia), the meeting has also been attended by the Environment Ministers from the most important emerging global economies – China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, South Africa, South Korea and Egypt. The fight against climate change and the issue of biodiversity have been the main topics of the discussions.
At a press conference held by the European Union on Thursday, Martin Bursík emphasized the importance of the fact that the most important global economies pay serious attention to these two topics. “The G8 group is an excellent forum for sending a message that biodiversity remains at the forefront of the global environmental policy and that we are all well aware of the seriousness of the issue of constantly decreasing natural diversity”, said Martin Bursík.
The Ministers have discussed the economic impact of the loss of biodiversity. They have also adopted the “Syracuse Charter”, in which they emphasized the need for investment in the protection of biodiversity as a driving force for overcoming the economic crisis and creation of jobs. They also encouraged better understanding of the benefits and services provided by the diversity of nature to humans and the need for reliable calculation of the price of their loss.
“The Syracuse meeting has shown that we are on a path to success at the December climate conference in Copenhagen,” commented Martin Bursík on the part of the negotiations concerned with climate. A new global agreement on limitation of greenhouse gas emissions should be adopted in Copenhagen to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which will expire in 2012. “Scientific documents clearly indicate that the global greenhouse gas emissions need to culminate over the next ten years, followed by a reduction in their quantity,” said Martin Bursík.
The discussions in Syracuse have unambiguously indicated that greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced with the use of already existing technologies. However, this requires a stable environment for investments in low-carbon technology – both economic and legislative. The necessary starting point will be provided, in particular, by a clearly stipulated long-term objective for the reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases and establishing a market price of these emissions. “This relates to the specific objectives contained in the Copenhagen agreement and the establishment of a global carbon market, as proposed by the European Union”, explained Minister Bursík. Stringent energy standards for electrical appliances, automobiles and buildings could also facilitate these efforts.
In the long term, it is also essential to increase investments in research and development of low-carbon technologies in both private and public sectors. The importance of cooperation between private and public sectors (e.g. private-public partnerships) has been growing during the current economic crisis. “We have unambiguously agreed on the fact that the economic and climate crises need to be resolved jointly – there is no other way,” said Mr. Bursík.
The outputs of the Syracuse meeting of the G8 Environment Ministers will form a basis for the July summit of the heads of States of the G8 group in La Maddalena, Sicily.
contact:
- Jakub Kašpar, Spokesperson, Ministry of the Environment, Czech Republic
- tel.: +420 267 122 040, GSM: +420 724 175 927; e-mail: jakub.kaspar@mzp.cz
Last update: 16.8.2011 15:30
