PARIS - France and Brazil on one side, United States and countries of Forum Asia-Pacific Cooperation (APEC) on the other hand, have increased the pressure this weekend, three weeks before the Copenhagen climate conference.
Three weeks before the Copenhagen climate conference, France and Brazil on the one hand, the United States and the Forum Asia-Pacific Cooperation (APEC) on the other hand, are raising the pressure on whether or not to conclude a legally binding agreement at this summit. (Reuters / Nigel Roddis)
Three weeks before the Copenhagen climate conference, France and Brazil on the one hand, the United States and the Forum Asia-Pacific Cooperation (APEC) on the other hand, are raising the pressure on whether or not to conclude a legally binding agreement at this summit. (Reuters / Nigel Roddis)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Saturday released a common position they want to rally the rest of the world to isolate the United States and China and bring this "G2" to concessions.
"We need South America, Africa and most of the Asian countries to create the movement necessary to convince the United States, China and possibly other countries to make the necessary efforts," said the Elysee.
The French and Brazilian presidents have promised to go "personally" to the Danish capital for the conclusion of the climate conference, which will begin on December 7.
Nicolas Sarkozy specified that he was going to ask all European leaders to do the same to support their environment ministers. "It is a matter of heads of state, heads of government," he told reporters.
On the other side of the world, in Singapore, Barack Obama and the other leaders of the Apec countries judged the conclusion in Copenhagen of a legally binding agreement "unrealistic".
In addition, the reference to a goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50% by 2050 has disappeared from the Apec final declaration, it seems at the instigation of China, according to a French source.
Beijing holds much of the key to Copenhagen, says the French presidency.
But more than China, which has undertaken significant efforts in the field of renewable energies, it is the United States which constitute the problem, however estimates the French Minister for Ecology, Jean-Louis Borloo.
Barack Obama faces congressional resistance from Republicans and some Democrats to his climate bill to cut greenhouse gas emissions. He admitted that this text would probably not be voted on before Copenhagen.
The leaders of the Apec countries rallied to the idea of a two-step agreement, presented by the Danish Prime Minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen: first a political agreement, then the signing of binding clauses.
FRANCO-BRAZILIAN AXIS
An approach also recommended by France to avoid negotiations getting bogged down in legal quibbles, but on condition that the future political agreement goes beyond the simple petition of principles.
"Do you think that in 35 days we are able to finalize a legal text which answers all the questions and all the problems? No", declared Saturday Nicolas Sarkozy at the end of his interview with the President Lula.
But no question for France and Brazil to accept a "discount agreement", added the French president. "The minimum agreement and the agreement in principle which would not bind anyone is not our position."
The 192 countries invited to the Copenhagen conference will have to "make binding, precise commitments, both in terms of objectives and financially, especially for the poorest countries," he insisted.
This is the object of the French draft agreement around which Jean-Louis Borloo has endeavored in recent months to rally the African and Latin American countries, India, Bangladesh, Laos and Cambodia.
He assures us that the “general philosophy” of this proposal has today “a very broad support” and that he received last week in New Delhi an “extremely attentive and positive” reception from the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh.
Jean-Louis Borloo will test this proposal again, with 40 of his colleagues, Monday and Tuesday in Copenhagen.
In the meantime, it is the Franco-Brazilian common position made public on Saturday which constitutes the "heart" of France's strategy, they say at the Elysee Palace.
It takes up the objective of reducing GHG emissions by 50% by 2050 and calls for substantial financial aid to poor countries, but sticks to fairly general principles.
It nevertheless has the merit of being the first commitment of its kind from a large emerging country. Brazil has also announced its intention to reduce emissions by 36% to 39% by 2020, compared to projections if no action is taken.
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