EU Climate Diplomacy Week

On occasion of the Climate Diplomacy Week from 18 June to 24 June, the EU will host major meetings, notably:  Petersburg Dialogue (17-19 June), the Ministerial on Climate Change MoCA (20-21 June) in Brussels, and  the high level event on Climate, peace and security hosted by HRVP Federica Mogherini (22 June) also in Brussels.

The EU is committed to ambitious action and leads by example: we have a strong track record, both in domestic emissions reductions and support to international partners. The EU has played a consistent role in the construction and implementation of the global climate policy regime over the past three decades.

Climate Finance and the Paris Agreement:

• The EU has considerably increased its already high level of climate finance and will fulfil its commitment towards the USD 100 billion goal. The Paris Agreement underscores the importance of increased means of implementation, in particular climate finance and capacity building, as enablers of ambitious climate action.
• The EU remains committed to the collective goal of mobilising USD 100 billion a year in climate finance by 2020 and through to 2025 for climate action in developing countries from a variety of sources – both public and private.
• The EU’s mobilisation of climate finance has systematically and coherently increased both domestically and towards partners outside the EU. In 2016, the EU, its Member States and the European Investment Bank contributed EUR 20.2 billion in public climate finance towards developing countries.
• Many EU Member States contribute to the USD 10 billion capital of the Green Climate Fund, representing roughly a half of all contributions. The EU, through some of its Member States' voluntary contributions, also represents 95% of the funding of the Adaptation Fund.

Paris Agreement Work Programme (" Rulebook")

At the UN climate change conference in 2017 (COP 23), Parties made progress towards delivering a solid set of rules for the future climate governance regime (the 'Paris Agreement Work Programme').  This "rulebook" is due for adoption at COP24 in December 2018. Adopting a clear and comprehensive set of rules, consistent with what was agreed in Paris, is necessary for putting the Paris Agreement into action.

• The EU is willing to accept that robust rules must also have a built-in flexibility that recognises the differences in Parties' targets and in their starting points. The rules should be designed to evolve and improve over time, based on experience.
• The EU is ready to support partner countries in enhancing their capacities to effectively handle detailed rules on accounting, monitoring, reporting and verification.
• Achieving the Paris goals is a shared commitment by developed and developing countries. We are open to address the concerns of developing countries to see where flexibility is really needed. Capacity building should be provided to reduce the need for flexibility over time and increase ambition.

EU on pre-2020 action:

• The EU has put in place an ambitious mix of pre-2020 targets and structural policies in the field of climate and energy. Our actions have already resulted in the EU exceeding our 2020 target under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce emissions by 20% from 1990. By 2016, we had already cut them by 23%, and we are on course for a 26% reduction.
• The EU’s mobilisation of climate finance has systematically and coherently increased. Total contributions from the EU, its Member States and the European Investment Bank amounted to €20.2 billion in 2016. This represents a 15% increase compared to the previous year and an around 50% increase compared to 2012.
• We recognise the importance of non-state actors and their contribution to achieve the objectives and its long-term goals of the Paris Agreement, in complementing and inspiring the ambition of the Parties. The Global Climate Action Agenda is playing a strong supporting role in climate action by bringing together Parties and non-Party stakeholders.
• The EU is set to (over)achieve its goal of cutting domestic GHG emissions by 20 % by 2020 from 1990 levels. The share of renewable energy in the EU energy mix continues to rise and is on track to reach the 20 % target in 2020. Likewise, the EU is broadly on track to meet its 20 % energy efficiency target by 2020.

Talanoa Dialogue for Climate ambition:

The "EU for Talanoa" Conference is organized by the European Commission on 13 June 2018 as part of the EU's contribution to the Talanoa Dialogue, an international process to take stock of the collective and individual efforts towards the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change. The EU and its Member States sees the Talanoa Dialogue as one of the key processes throughout 2018, enabling us to take stock of Parties' collective efforts and progress towards the long-term goal of the Paris Agreement and to inform the preparations of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to be communicated by 2020, but, how do we get there?

• The EU is implementing ambitious policies. The EU is committed to cut its domestic GHG emissions by at least 40% by 2030 from 1990 levels. We are well advanced in putting in place a legislative framework for 2030, covering all sectors of the economy, to achieve our emissions reduction target, increase the share of renewables and increase energy efficiency.
• The EU and its Member States will continue to provide support. We are committed to scaling up the mobilisation of international climate finance and working towards a shift in global finance flows, through support to international cooperative initiatives, integrating capacity building in EU support activities, taking a leading role in developing low-carbon technology and supporting its uptake internationally, and taking into account the imperatives of a just transition as part of the transition to a clean, low-emissions economy and resilient society.
• The EU continues to look at ways for enhancing ambition.  Further developments within the EU with regard to more advanced energy efficiency and renewable energy measures could potentially lead to increased mitigation action and ambition. Some Member States are also putting into place policies that go beyond the targets in EU legislation. We should all continue to assess the adequacy of our efforts so as to achieve the long-term goals agreed in Paris. The EU proposal for the EU strategy will guide future EU policies and NDCs.