16 March 2010 – Countries responsible for more than four fifths of global emissions of greenhouse gases have now backed the accord that emerged from last year’s climate change summit in Copenhagen, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, calling this a critical step forward towards the next major gathering on the subject.

“I am pleased to note that 110 countries representing more than 80 per cent of global emissions have expressed support for the Copenhagen Accord,” Mr. Ban told journalists at United Nations Headquarters, referring to the non-binding agreement reached at last December’s summit in the Danish capital. “This is an important advance towards Cancun.”

In November UN-backed talks are slated to take place in Cancun, Mexico, with the aim of striking a global, binding deal on climate change.

Mr. Ban reiterated today that the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will spearhead international negotiations on climate change ahead of the Cancun summit.

“The United Nations will continue to lead while closely coordinating with Member States.”

The next formal round of climate change talks will be held next month in Bonn, Germany, leading to the Cancun gathering (known as COP16).

In preparation for the conference in Cancun, the Secretary-General said the UN is working closely with the Mexican Government and is engaged in small group meetings as part of “confidence-building process.”

He also suggested that the UNFCCC may try to have at least two or three more working group meetings before the gathering in Cancun.

Asked by a reporter about the possibility of a two-track negotiation process – with the UNFCCC process on the one hand and separate talks among emerging and big economies on the other – Mr. Ban said that plan is “not desirable.”

Given the large number of Member States, he acknowledged that it is sometimes necessary to break into smaller groups to build consensus.

“But the official negotiation process” should be along UNFCCC lines since this is what has been agreed to by countries and the UN, the Secretary-General emphasized.

Mr. Ban’s support for addressing climate change comes one week after he announced an independent and comprehensive review of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a UN-backed climate body whose 2007 global assessment report has recently faced criticism over a miscalculation in the rate of Himalayan glacier melt and other errors.

“I am encouraged by the response of governments, scientific institutions and environmental activists to the launch of the independent review of the IPCC,” the Secretary-General said today.

Last week, at the launch of the review, Mr. Ban said that while there were “a very small number of errors” in the report, he has “seen no credible evidence that challenges the main conclusions” of the publication.

Source: UN News Centre

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(Reuters) - European carbon emissions futures opened lower but quickly broke into positive territory on Monday, even though investors were still mulling news that Hungary recycled U.N.-backed credits, traders said.

EU Allowances for December delivery were up 8 cents or 0.62 percent at 12.98 euros ($17.89) a tonne at 3:38 a.m. EDT, with light volume at 162 lots. EUAs opened at 12.88 euros.

"There's been a little bounce this morning but the CER news has been bad for the market. It pushed the spreads as CERs weakened against EUAs," an emissions trader said.

On Friday, it emerged that Hungary had sold 2 million emissions permits which its companies had already counted toward their carbon targets, raising concerns of double-counting in a European Union scheme.

The news caused CER prices to drop. Traders said they were awaiting news of measures from the European Commission to stop this taking place.

"There needs to be a mechanism in place that makes sure the credits don't come back in to the market. The short-term benefits of doing this could have such a long-term impact; it's frustrating," the trader said.

Many investors will be watching U.S. industrial output figures at 9:15 a.m. EDT for signs of economic recovery, which could impact prices this afternoon.

A UK auction of 4.5 million EUAs this Thursday could also affect prices this week, traders said.

Each month a trading pattern has emerged where market participants have sold large volumes of EUAs ahead of the auction, driving prices lower, hoping to buy back and make more money in the expected subsequent rally.

Oil eased below $81 a barrel on Monday, extending the previous session's losses, as data showing a drop in U.S. consumer confidence fanned worries about flagging demand in the world's top energy user.

German Calendar 2010 baseload power was up 70 cents or 1.54 percent at 46.25 euros per megawatt hour.

Certified emissions reductions were up 9 cents at 11.39 euros a tonne. The EUA-CER spread was at 1.59 euros. (Reporting by Nina Chestney; editing by James Jukwey)

© Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved.

Source: Reuters

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PARIS (Reuters) - France will push the Group of 20 countries to impose a tax on financial transactions to raise billions of dollars to help developing nations fight climate change, President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday.

Speaking at a conference on forests, Sarkozy repeated his call for a renewed effort on climate change after the "frustrating" Copenhagen conference in December, aiming his fire at "all those who, behind their fine words, want to do nothing."

"Those who don't want to do anything are those who don't want to pay. If the money isn't there, the ones who will pay for the consequences are the poor," he said in a speech.

Sarkozy said new sources of funding would be needed for the $100 billion committed at the Copenhagen climate conference and he said he would push for a tax on financial transactions when France takes the chair of the G20 next year.

"Only innovative financing will allow us to meet this challenge," he said. "I will take, with others, initiatives at the G20 to ensure a tax on financial transactions is rapidly adopted."

More than 100 nations have endorsed a Copenhagen Accord, the main outcome of the December summit, which seeks to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) and foresees almost $30 billion in aid for developing nations from 2010-12, rising to $100 billion a year from 2020.

"The division isn't between the North and the South but between countries that want to act and those that want to wait for the storm to pass," he said.

Without naming any countries, Sarkozy said France would have to overcome opposition within the G20 and he called for backing from countries committed to change.

"If France and a few others are alone at the G20, we won't get there," he said. "We have Africa behind us, we have parts of Asia with us, we have Latin America with us."

He said opposition did not just come from richer countries, pointing to divisions among the so-called Group of Five emerging countries, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, India and China.

"When you say G5, there are those that want to move forward and those that want to stop. I won't name any names." (By James Mackenzie)

© Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved.

Source: Reuters

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London, 11 March: A climate fund proposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to raise $100 billion a year by 2020 has won support from climate change economics guru Nicholas Stern. 

Speaking in Nairobi on Sunday, IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said: “Sustainable growth in developing countries will require large-scale, long-term investments for climate change adaptation and mitigation. The Copenhagen Accord suggests that $100 billion a year is needed by 2020, over and above existing aid commitments. This will be difficult to do with the standard approach – a series of ‘pledging conferences’ for decades to come.”

He said that, ultimately, financing will come from “budgetary transfers from developed countries, drawing on scaled-up carbon taxes and expanded carbon trading mechanisms”. However, these revenue sources will take time to be put in place, so an IMF 'Green Fund' could “act as a bridge to large-scale carbon-based financing in the medium term”.

In a subsequent interview with wire service AFP, Strauss-Kahn said that the IMF is going to publish a working paper on the Green Fund in the next couple of weeks. However, in the Nairobi speech, he stressed that the IMF would not manage the fund.

Stern, chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics, said: “The ‘Green Fund’ is a creative and constructive idea which shows that the International Monetary Fund recognises clearly the very serious risks that climate change creates for future global economic growth and development.”

Late last year, George Soros, the former hedge fund manager and now billionaire philanthropist, suggested that such a fund tap ‘Special Drawing Rights’, the international reserve assets held by the IMF to supplement its members' official currency reserves.

However, Soros’ proposal was for a modest $100 billion over 25 years, rather than the $100 billion per year by 2020 apparently on the table from the IMF.

In January, Strauss-Kahn floated the idea of an IMF-led green fund, at the Davos meetings in Switzerland.

Source: Environmental Finance

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