Wir müssen die unerledigte Klima-Aufgabe vollenden

Vor der von den Vereinten Nationen gesetzten Frist, bis zu der die Regierungen ihre Ziele zur Einsparung von CO2-Emissionen bis 2020 vorstellen sollen, betont der britische Minister für Klimawandel und Energie Ed Miliband die Notwendigkeit verstärkter Bemühungen, um in Mexiko ein rechtsverbindliches Abkommen zu erzielen.

Der folgende Beitrag wurde EURACTIV von Ed Miliband, britischer Minister für Klimawandel und Energie, zugeschickt.

"Agreeing a comprehensive solution to climate change was never going to be easy. We are aiming to do something that no generation has ever done: permanently turn around the growth in greenhouse gas emissions. 

This is not just important for our future, it is important now. We are already starting to see the effects on every continent. There are signs of increasing drought affecting food production and global sea levels rising as ice melts and oceans warm. 

That is why last December's United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen was so important. For the first time, every country on Earth came together with a chance of us all – developed and developing countries alike – agreeing to act. 

It is true that the Conference did not deliver the comprehensive agreement that we and other EU partners sought. We need to redouble efforts to secure the legally-binding treaty that will provide us all with the security we need, and complete the unfinished business of Copenhagen. 

Nevertheless, Copenhagen was an important step forward – one we shouldn't underestimate. On emissions reductions, on verification and on finance there was significant progress. 

As part of the Copenhagen Accord, for the first time leading developing countries as well as developed countries have entered into an international agreement that addresses emissions. Importantly, as part of the agreement these promises are due to be registered publically in the next week. The Accord endorses the science that says we must prevent warming of more than 2°C. 

Also for the first time there was agreement to an international process of measurement, reporting and verification. In each country, progress against commitments will be subject to a process of independent analysis. 

The progress on finance reflected in the Accord will begin helping people in developing countries this year. Starting in 2010, and running for the next three years, the Accord provides for up to $30 billion of 'fast-start' assistance. Looking further ahead, the Accord sets out plans for financial flows worth up to $100 billion and has put in place a task force to identify sustainable sources of funding. 

This is just a start. The world will need to go much further. So over the coming weeks and months, the UK will be seeking to broaden, strengthen and deepen the Accord. We want to broaden it by increasing the number of countries that align themselves with the Accord. 

We want to deepen it by ensuring we have maximal ambition in the carbon cuts that are on offer. For Europe that means, provided there is high ambition from others, carrying forward our commitment to move from 20% to 30% reductions by 2020 compared to 1990. And we want to strengthen the Accord by restarting the track to a legally-binding deal. 

But the solution to our climate problems won't be solved by international agreements alone. It depends on the action taken by each and every government. And it is on that front that we must also continue. 

Here in the UK, we won't be deflected from our plan to cut our emissions by 34% on 1990 levels by 2020. Indeed, current projections show we are on track to go deeper. 

We are doing this not just because it is right for the environment, but because it is right for our economy and energy security as well. 

The new low carbon industries of the future will be key to economic growth. So we will be pushing ahead with plans for clean coal, for new nuclear power and a significant increase in renewables. We'll continue to help British people waste less energy as well as boost greener transport, including electric cars. 

Whilst the Copenhagen summit didn't deliver the comprehensive solution that most of us were after, we shouldn't let frustration with the two weeks obscure the historic shift which the last year marked. 

There is now an irreversible trend towards going low carbon. 

The work to agree a solution has started, it will continue this year and it will succeed."

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