Accessibility links

Breaking News

EU Offers Billions To Climate Fund


BRUSSELS -- European Union leaders agreed at summit in Brussels on October 30 to contribute up to 50 billion euros ($74 billion) in annual aid to help developing nations adapt to climate change by 2020.

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said Europeans "now have a very strong negotiating position" to seek tight greenhouse gas emissions cuts at UN talks in Copenhagen in December.

However, no cost targets for individual EU nations were announced, and EU Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso suggested that the amount was conditional on non-EU nations' actions.

Barroso described the agreement as a "breakthrough" on climate change.

"Regarding climate change, this was an important breakthrough, which brings new momentum. We can now look the rest of the world in the eyes and say, 'We Europeans, we have done our job. We are ready for Copenhagen,'" Barroso said.

The European Union had already agreed to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020.

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.

To find out more, click here.

XS
SM
MD
LG