Press information. Brussels, 26 October 2009 - EU Finance Ministers met last Thursday, 22 October, to discuss the scale and sources of money to be dedicated to help developing countries deal with climate change and pursue low carbon development. Unfortunately, the Ministers could not reach any agreement, casting some doubts about the unity of the block and compromising its declared desire to play a more pronounced role in international negotiations, such as the pivotal UN Conference on Climate Change that will take place in Copenhagen on 7-18 December.

Faith based development networks Caritas Europa, CIDSE and Aprodev are all but reassured about this failure.

CIDSE Secretary General Bernd Nilles said: "In the face of the scale and urgency of the challenge that awaits us, EU Finance Ministers chose to stick their heads in the sand. The EU risks losing its leadership on climate change, while creating an even wider trust gap between rich and poor countries”.

According to Caritas Europa Secretary General Marius Wanders, the situation is very disappointing as EU Finance Ministers have missed the opportunity to take the significant and decisive steps to deal with this make or break issue, leaving the EU with just one week of negotiations left until the conference in Copenhagen.

“The UN climate negotiations require firm and decisive EU leadership and commitments on financing. We can only hope and urge that the Heads of State will now grasp the opportunity that was missed by the Finance Ministers", said Mr. Wanders referring to the crucial discussions over funding for a global agreement on climate change in which EU Heads of State are likely to engage during this week’s EU Summit.

Caritas Europa, CIDSE and APRODEV are calling on the European Council meeting on 29-30th October to commit to delivering more than 35 billion euro yearly in new, additional and predictable financing for low carbon development and adaptation to the impacts of climate change in developing countries.

For more information, please contact:
Blandine Bouniol
Policy Officer for International Cooperation
Tel: +32 (0)2 235 26 55 
bbouniol@caritas-europa.org