Archived press release

EU's position ahead of Copenhagen leaves much to be desired

22 October 2009

Speaking after the conclusion of the meeting of the European Environment Council on 21 October, Friends of the Earth's Senior International Climate Campaigner Asad Rehman said:

"Moves to tackle emissions from aviation and shipping are welcome - yet this is a sideshow compared to the concrete targets we really need to slash overall emissions by at least 40 per cent by 2020 across the EU.

"European environment ministers are still hell-bent on solving the climate crisis through massively expanding carbon markets and through carbon offsetting.

"But buying credits from abroad will do nothing to tackle climate change and will allow our leaders to shirk their legal and moral responsibility to cut emissions here in Europe.

"The EU is failing to show the bold international leadership that is crucial to secure the strong and fair agreement we need to tackle climate change effectively."

Friends of the Earth is demanding that the Government changes its approach to climate change with its Demand Climate Change campaign. The green campaign group is asking everyone to sign its international petition to world leaders for a strong and fair climate deal at http://www.demandclimatechange.org/.

Friends of the Earth is calling for:
* The Government to abandon its promotion of carbon offsetting - a con which
means avoiding real action at home through dodgy accounting - and pledge to cut emissions by at least 40 per cent by 2020 at home;
* Rich countries to acknowledge their legal and moral responsibility to
provide new money for developing countries, distributed through the UN, so that they can grow cleanly and adapt to the effects of climate change which are already putting millions of lives at risk;
* Proposals to be scrapped which would allow rich countries to buy chunks of
forest whilst continuing to pump out emissions: an approach which won't solve climate change or halt deforestation.

Notes to Editors:

1. Friends of the Earth is part of Stop Climate Chaos Coalition, the UK's
largest group of people dedicated to action on climate change and limiting its impact on the world's poorest communities. The coalition's supporter base of more than 11 million people spans over 100 organisations, from environment and development charities to unions, faith, community and women's groups. Together we demand practical action by the UK to keep temperatures well below an average 2 degree rise. For further information visit http://www.stopclimatechaos.org/.

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust