MOSCOW, December 2 (Sputnik) – All countries should set legally binding targets for carbon emission reduction by March 2015 to keep the temperature rise below 2 °C, the head of the EU delegation Elina Badram said at the Climate Change Conference in Lima, Peru.
"EU is calling on all countries to come forward with ambitious proposed target [keeping temperature rises below 2 °C] by the end of March 2015," Badram said at the press conference on Monday.
The EU representative emphasized that non-binding mitigation targets would not ensure a shift towards a low-carbon economy. Badram added that legally binding mitigation targets are the only way to attract the investments by businesses and private sector into green economy.
The head of the EU delegation announced that the European Union welcomed the November 12 decision by the United States and China to collaborate on carbon pollution reduction.
"We need to agree on some key parameters in order for us to add our effort up with the US effort, with the Chinese effort, with an Indian effort and with the Brazilian effort and to get a clear view what the bottom line is," Badram stressed.
She also noted that European countries have already started developing a single climate policy framework and adopted the emissions reduction target of 40% below 1990 levels for the next 16 years.
A two-week climate change conference, which is currently underway in Lima, Peru, has gathered experts from across the globe amid increasing concerns about record-breaking temperatures. The Lima climate talks aim to propose a binding universal draft agreement on climate change, which is expected to be adopted at the UN Climate Change Conference due to be held in France in 2015.
