In the early days of the United Nations climate change summit in Paris, some delegates and observers are expressing concern that the European Union has stepped away from its customary role of broker, mediator, and deal-maker. And earlier this week, Climate Action Network International picked up an inconsistency in the EU’s negotiating position.
In one set of negotiations, “the EU stressed that Parties’ targets are not strong enough and ambition needs to be increased to respect the 2°C guardrail, suggesting textual changes accordingly,” reported ECO, the Network’s daily onsite newsletter. But “in a different room at exactly the same time,” the publication’s team of volunteer writers picked up “other Parties stressing that targets are not strong enough, and ambition needs to be increased to respect the 2°C guardrail.” Those negotiating parties suggested an additional forum to discuss pre-2020 carbon reduction targets, “and guess what: the EU forcefully rejected this proposal, even though they supported increasing ambition just down the hall.”
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Memo to the EU, ECO style: “Can you please just make up your mind?”
