Stavros Dimas is the EU's environment commissioner.
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What are the EU's expectations from the US in the ongoing global climate negotiations? Czech Environment Minister Martin Bursík said America should reduce its emissions by 14% compared to 1990 levels. What is your view?
I don't know exactly what my colleague has said, but what is important is that [US] President [Barack] Obama has committed to 80% reductions by 2050, which is in accordance with what the EU is aiming for and what IPPC science is saying is necessary.
In order to get to this 80%, we have to reduce emissions yearly; we need to have a trajectory by 2020.
We have to achieve 50% globally, which means that developed countries should reduce by 80%, but developing countries should also make a contribution in order to get 50% global reductions.
We have set, according to what the IPPC has said, a mid-term reduction target of 30% in comparison to 1990 levels for developed countries as a group. Mid-term reductions from developed countries should be comparable and we have a set of criteria for deciding this comparability.
President Obama has only promised to return US emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Is that ambitious enough in your view?
This is what President Obama has said early during his campaign. Now, the official position is 80% reductions by 2050.
And while we were in Washington, we discussed exactly what the mid-term target would be for the US. And this will depend on what the cap-and-trade that they will introduce will achieve in terms of emissions reductions, what the cap is going to be and whether it is going to be domestic, or rely on international offsets as well as on the scope of the system.
Returning to 1990 levels was an objective based on the cap-and-trade system, delivering 14-15% reductions in comparison to 2005 levels. But it will be very important in order to make the comparability test, to see whether this is domestic or relying on international offsets, what is going to be the scope of the system and what reductions will be done in other sectors that will not be covered by the cap-and-trade system.
So the policy is still shaping up in the US and we have to work with them, exchange information and see how we shall achieve an ambitious agreement in Copenhagen that brings onboard China, India and other developing countries.
