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EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU member states have stepped up pressure for an international agreement to curb emissions from the maritime and aviation sectors, stressing that a system of carbon pricing for ships and planes would help capitalise a $100 billion climate fund.
EU finance ministers meeting in Brussels on Tuesday (17 May) said securing the $100 billion per year by 2020 would be "challenging but feasible", after developed countries signed up to the commitment at international climate talks in Cancun, Mexico, late last year.
Talks on curbing maritime carbon emissions have been ongoing for years where the money, destined to help developing countries fight climate change, will come from still remains unclear, however.
While Europe has implemented an emissions trading system for heavy industry within its own borders, the bloc has become increasingly frustrated by the slow pace of discussions within the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
In the meeting's conclusions, EU finance ministers highlighted that: "Carbon pricing of global aviation and maritime transportation have the potential to generate large financial flows."
"Further work is needed in IMO and ICAO to develop without delay a global policy framework that avoids competitive distortions or carbon leakage," added the ministers.
EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard also recently vented her frustration at the slow pace of negotiations on curbing carbon emissions from the maritime sector, stressing that the EU would not wait forever.
"Since 1997, IMO has had this task [of reaching an agreement], without delivering, and that's why we are very clearly signalling we are losing patience," she said last month...
Complete Story at:
http://euobserver.com/9/32346
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