Earth Equity News

Snubbed in Copenhagen, EU Weighs Climate Options. By Paul Taylor, Reuters, January 13, 2010. "Stunned by being sidelined in the endgame of the Copenhagen world climate summit, the European Union is debating how to regain influence over the fight against global warming. Should the world's largest trading bloc and economic area respond to the policy setback and the diplomatic humiliation of the bare-minimum Copenhagen accord by playing Mr. Nice, Mr. Nasty, Mr. Persistent or Mr. Pragmatic? The first two options -- setting a more ambitious example to others, or threatening climate laggards with carbon tariffs -- are tempting gestures, and each has its supporters. But when the dust settles, the 27 EU governments are likely to stick to their carbon emissions reduction strategy while becoming more pragmatic about working outside the United Nations framework to achieve progress, experts say. The EU went to last month's U.N. negotiations seeking a legally binding agreement to cut emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for heating the planet, with precise reduction targets subject to international monitoring and enforcement. Despite warning signs that their goals were unrealistic, the Europeans hoped to convert the rest of the world to their own model of supranational governance. 'We have to be honest. We did not fulfill our objectives,' European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told a conference of Brussels think-tanks on Tuesday."