The EU is treating climate deal like an E-Bay novice
No sale, Europe

Oxfam Ireland Press Release
30 October 2009

Irish government criticised for failure to stand up for poor countries devastated by climate change.

The European Union’s suggestion today of global public financing worth €22-€50 billion per year for developing countries to tackle climate change falls short of what is needed while Ireland continues to fail to deliver on climate justice says Oxfam.

Europe’s bid is not enough and comes with a fatal flaw – there is no guarantee that this money would be “new” and not diverted from existing aid commitments. “This is not yet a break-through for a climate deal. But the EU has shown that real numbers can now be negotiated,” said Elise Ford, head of Oxfam International’s Brussels office.

“Right now, the EU is treating a climate change deal like a novice on E-Bay. It has made an opening bid for climate justice that is nowhere near enough and with a fatal flaw. It’s no sale, Europe, and you only have a short time left to bid again before the auction closes on a safe and fair deal in Copenhagen,” said Ford.

Oxfam says that the top-end of the range, €50 billion per year, is less than half of what developing countries need to adapt to harmful climate change and pursue low-carbon futures. EU heads of state did not give a concrete range for Europe’s fair share of that total, but said it would be based on their fair share of global responsibility for emissions and capability to pay. The European Commission earlier indicated that such criteria would lead to an EU contribution of between €2 and €15 billion per year. Oxfam is calling instead for Europe to provide at least €35 billion in public finance – alongside a comparable contribution from the US – towards a global climate fund of at least €110 billion per year.

Financing must be new and additional. Oxfam estimates that at least 75 million fewer children are likely to attend school and 8.6 million fewer people could have access to HIV/AIDS treatment if money that would otherwise have been spent on health and education is diverted to tackle climate change.

 “Europe is committed to increase its overseas aid spending to 0.7% of national income. Climate financing must be over and above that. If not, rich countries are simply telling the world’s poorest countries to choose between building flood defences and building schools. If rich countries steal from aid budgets to pay their climate debt, the fight against poverty will go into reverse,” Ford said.

“Europe’s bargaining tactics are a carbon-copy of its past form in international trade negotiations. Low opening offers will be followed by intense pressure on developing countries to agree to Europe’s demands. But these are not conventional negotiations, and such tactics won’t deliver the deal we need in Copenhagen,” warned Ford. “The collapsed Doha round of trade talks was about pulling millions out of poverty, Copenhagen is about preventing billions from being plunged into poverty.”

“We now need an improved offer – more money and new money. Placing the first bid doesn’t make you a leader,” Ford added.

Ireland appears to have played no proactive part in the EU’s months of discussions on how we should support climate financing. The government has failed to make clear that money from the government’s commitment to spend 0.7% of GNP on overseas aid will not be used to pay for Ireland’s climate pollution, nor has it sought to protect European aid or to seek adequate levels of climate finance.

 ‘The government continues its shameful silence on climate justice. While the government has sat on it’s hands in the EU talks people living in poverty are seeing their lives under threat from devastating climate change. Poor countries should not be expected to pay for our climate pollution from their school and hospital budgets. The Taoiseach needs to make clear that we will not use our commitment to spend 0.7% of GNP on aid to pay for our climate pollution’ said Colin Roche, Policy and Advocacy Coordinator, Oxfam Ireland.

Oxfam also said that today’s announcement from Brussels helped to turn the international spotlight back onto the United States. “The US now needs to join the EU in talking about concrete financing numbers – and next week’s US-EU Summit is the perfect opportunity to begin,” Ford said.

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Notes to Editor

Oxfam Ireland is an independent member of Oxfam International- a group of thirteen non-governmental agencies dedicated to fighting poverty and related injustice around the world.

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