President Sarkozy and Mr Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia

France and Ethiopia, representing Africa, launch today an appeal to all Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to adopt an ambitious agreement on 18 December limiting the increase of temperatures to 2°C above preindustrial levels, as recommended by the IPCC, and ensuring that vulnerable countries will receive adequate financing to face the challenge.

This agreement will be applicable immediately. It will be translated into a legal international instrument as early as possible in 2010. The Copenhagen accord must seek efficiency, as well as fairness and equity.

Therefore, France and Ethiopia, representing Africa, call for:

- the halving of global CO2 emissions by 2050 compared to 1990 levels. This implies, according to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, that developed countries commit to reducing their emissions by 80% at least by 2050 and to adopting coherent and comparable mid-term objectives; and that the most advanced developing countries adopt ambitious low-carbon growth plans and actions aimed at yielding a significant deviation of CO2 emissions compared to “business as usual” scenarios and compatible with the recommendations made by the IPCC.

- the full transparency of commitments taken by developed countries and of the actions adopted by developing countries.

- the adoption of a “fast-start” fund of $10 billion per year covering the next three years, 2010, 2011 and 2012. It will be dedicated to adaptation and mitigation actions, including the fight against deforestation, in developing countries, mainly the poor and vulnerable ones. 40% of the fund should be dedicated to adaptation in Africa. 20% of it should be dedicated to early action on “REDD+”, in order to reach the objective of halving deforestation by 2020 and halting it by 2030. A high-level group, mandated by the UNFCCC, composed of developed and developing countries’ experts will work out details as soon as possible, with a view to launching the fund by the next G20 Summit in Canada after consideration and approval by the UNFCCC.

- a strong commitment on long-term public financing based on developing countries’ needs beyond 2012. Predictable and additional finance must be made available from 2013. France and Ethiopia, representing Africa, believe that various innovative financing mechanisms are key to ensuring the predictability and sustainability of international public efforts. They call, in particular, for the creation of a tax on international financial transactions and are considering other sources such as taxes on sea freight or air transport. Those mechanisms will mainly be dedicated to actions in poor and vulnerable countries, particularly in Africa, least developed countries, small island States and other developing countries with a low per-capita income, according to a plan for climate justice. A high-level group composed of developed and developing countries’ experts will bring forward recommendations, with a preliminary report to be presented no later than the next G20 summit in Canada, and its final report no later than the November 2010 G20 summit in Korea. The report will be submitted for consideration and approval by the UNFCCC.

Long-term financing needs for mitigation and adaptation in developing countries are estimated, at least, at €50 billion by 2015 and €100 billion by 2020. Beyond public financing, France and Ethiopia, representing Africa, encourage the development of carbon markets, which will be a major source of capital flows and investments between the North and the South.

- an ambitious reform of global governance. The Copenhagen Conference offers a historic opportunity to launch a process leading to the establishment of a World Environment Organization. It will ensure that the environment, sustainable development and the fight against climate change remain a top priority in the international agenda beyond COP 15. And it will be a step forward in adapting international governance to twenty-first century challenges and realities./.

Source of English text: Elysée website.

Brazil and France reiterate their conviction that climate change is one of the most pressing challenges we face today and that it requires immediate global response guided by fairness and equity. The two countries underline that combating climate change is an imperative that must be fully compatible with sustainable economic growth and the fight against poverty. They endorse the scientific findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report and support the objective that global mean temperature increase should not exceed 2ºC above the pre-industrial levels, which implies a peak in global emissions as early as possible and reducing global emissions by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 1990.

Brazil and France are engaged in working together before the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to be held in Copenhagen, in December 2009. They emphasize the importance of establishing bridges among countries and are willing to further advance understandings between the G77/China and the industrialized countries. They commend the fact that two countries with different national and regional circumstances can express common views on major issues of the climate change negotiations. They are determined to step up the pace of negotiations in order to reach a positive and ambitious agreed outcome, based on the Bali Road Map, in Copenhagen later this year.

Brazil and France commit themselves to cooperating to strengthen the international climate change regime, through the enhanced implementation of the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol. In this regard, they recall that all Parties should formulate, implement, publish and regularly update national programmes containing measures to mitigate climate change and facilitate adaptation to climate change. These plans should be the vehicle for low carbon growth.

They underscore that all Annex I countries should adopt new and ambitious mid-term emission reduction targets in line with their historical and present responsibilities and capabilities, consistent with the 2°C and the recommendations of the IPCC. Annex I countries should outline emission pathways consistent with the goal of reducing their emissions by at least 80% by 2050 compared to 1990. In this context, they agree on the central importance of comparability of economy wide reduction targets among all Annex I countries.

Meanwhile, non-Annex I countries should pursue low carbon growth by implementing nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs) in the context of sustainable development, enabled and supported by developed countries with new and additional financing, technology cooperation and capacity-building. Developing countries should also contribute to the global effort by undertaking a substantial deviation from the business as usual projections of their emissions increase consistent with the IPCC recommendations, with a view to reducing the carbon intensity of their economies and peaking emissions as early as possible, bearing in mind that social and economic development and poverty eradication are the first and overriding priorities in developing countries.

Our two countries will support the establishment of a registry as part of the general framework for measuring, reporting and verifying (MRV) both NAMAs by developing countries and the support received from developed countries. The registry would channel enabling means of implementation of mitigation actions by developing countries, allowing for an important contribution to an enhanced global mitigation effort.

Brazil and France also underline the importance of adaptation to the adverse effects of climate change and agree that mitigation and adaptation should be given equal consideration under the Convention. Despite their limited responsibility for climate change, developing countries are already facing its adverse effects. Brazil and France stress the need for the development of a fair, comprehensive and robust framework for adaptation. This framework must include significant new financial support for developing countries, particularly for poor and vulnerable countries in Africa, Least Developed Countries and the Small Island Developing States, so that they may face the additional burden that climate change poses regarding the existing challenge of social and economic development and poverty eradication.

They recall that the provision of financial resources is one of the key building blocks for the full, effective and sustained implementation of the Convention. In this context, they underscore that the scaling-up of international public financing will be paramount for the successful outcome of COP-15. They underline the role of financial instruments, innovative financing and the role of the private sector in supporting action on mitigation and adaptation, as well as technology development and transfer. Investments should support low carbon growth and sustainable production and consumption patterns.
They highlight the need for enhanced cooperation between developed and developing countries for the research, development, deployment, diffusion and transfer of environmentally sound technologies. Technological cooperation can also be enhanced through the establishment of international hubs for knowledge and information sharing and capacity-building as well as national and regional centres for environmentally friendly technologies. Innovative solutions are needed to significantly enhance access to technologies.

They underscore the importance of stimulating enhanced action aimed at reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD). They recognize that this objective is an important part of mitigation efforts by several developing countries and may play a significant role in the global effort to tackle climate change. Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, through conservation of forests, sustainable management and enhancement of carbon stocks in forests can and should promote social and environmental co-benefits.

In this sense, they agree that such activities should receive adequate financial and technological support, as part of nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs) to be undertaken by developing countries. They emphasize the need to strengthen capacity-building and technology cooperation – both North-South and South-South – in the forestry sector, including the use of remote sensing tools. They commit to ensure the inclusion of REDD in the Copenhagen agreed outcome, with a view to establishing effective and reliable means of support for this objective under the Convention.
Brazil and France underline the need for ambitious results in reducing greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale. In this sense, they stress the role of promoting energy efficiency and renewable sources of energy, including socially and environmentally sustainable bioenergy, as part of the global effort to address climate change.

Brazil and France concur on the need for the establishment of an international organization devoted to the environment and sustainable development, which would give coherence to the efforts of the international community in these areas. They are convinced that the impetus should be given in Copenhagen in December so that the organization could be established at the Rio+20 Conference in Rio de Janeiro in 2012./.

¹ Source of English text: Elysée website.

By Amy Serafin and Heather Stimmler-Hall

It might be true of Copenhagen or Vancouver, but “green” isn’t the first adjective that springs to mind when one thinks of Paris.

The lush vertical garden at the Musée du Quai Branly, an inspiration for similar plantings throughout the city.

That may soon change, says French journalist and tourism consultant Josette Sicsic, sitting on a café terrace overlooking a row of newly planted trees on the Place d’Italie. “The French always take a long time to be convinced of something. We have a rebellious nature. Then all of a sudden, there’s a collective intelligence. Ecological awareness has been a long time coming, but in less than two years, we’ve caught up; now we’re as mindful of the problem as the Scandinavians or Germans.”

Here as in other parts of the world, scientists and environmentalists are finally getting their message across. Since 1990, TV personality and veteran ecologist Nicolas Hulot has run a foundation that has doggedly labored to modify individual and collective behaviors. A shift in public attitudes was evident during the 2007 presidential campaign when Hulot circulated a “Pacte Ecologique” pledging to make the environment a priority. It was signed not only by some 733,359 citizens but also by all the major candidates.

Other national environmental milestones have included the French government’s introduction in 2004 of its “Plan Climat” to reduce carbon emissions in accordance with the Kyoto protocol agreement, and the 2008 passage of the “Grenelle de l’environnement,” a bill based on a series of roundtable discussions about environmental policy and sustainable development. This past June, the well-organized Europe Ecologie party received more than 16 percent of the French vote during the European Parliamentary elections (Parisians gave them 28 percent of their vote), and the save-the-planet documentary Home by French aerial photographer Yann Arthus Bertrand filled big and small screens around the world, quickly topping the list of best-selling DVDs in France.

Located on the site of a former auto factory, the modernist Parc André Citroën reflects Paris’s commitment to making green spaces an integral part of contemporary city life.

On the municipal level, Paris has been going green ever since the 2001 election of Bertrand Delanoë, a Socialist who became mayor thanks to an alliance with Les Verts (he was re-elected in 2008). In 2005, the French capital established its own Plan Climat, pledging a 30 percent reduction in emissions and energy consumption of public buildings by 2020. The city has also given the label “Agenda 21” to a number of local projects, signifying that they respect a U.N. blueprint for sustainable development. These initiatives run the gamut from future éco-quartiers, or green neighborhoods, to issuing uniforms made from fair-trade cotton to sanitation workers.

The difference is already visible. Sicsic gestures at the greenery all around her. “Here on the avenue des Gobelins, cars were parked on the sidewalk just 10 years ago. Since then, the city has widened the pavement and created an alley of trees; it’s completely different now.” Paris is one of the most densely treed cities in Europe, with new plantings and old growths totaling some 485,000 in all. More than half are in the Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes; 36,500 are in parks and gardens, and another 96,500 line the streets. Resident associations are also contributing to the greening of their city by creating community gardens with the help of City Hall. And Parisians can write to the mayor’s office and suggest blank walls as candidates for vertical gardens, the hippest thing in horticulture since the Musée du Quai Branly created its dramatic mur végétal. Read the end of this article on France Magazine’s website.