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Closer co-operation on climate change

"Building up a green economy will create the conditions for a less polluted environment and for the sustainable use of resources. This will help keep the ecosystem in balance and provide a boost to the economy," the Nordic environment ministers said at their meeting in Copenhagen on 2 November.

Nov 02, 2011
Vindmøller i Øresund
Photographer
Sigurður Ólafsson/norden.org

The Icelandic minister stressed that the transition to a green economy does not imply any compromise on quality of life, as it would in fact improve the quality of life at both local and global levels in the short- and long term.

The ministers decided to intensify their dialogue on the green economy in the run-up to the UN World Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio +20 in June 2012.

The Norwegian minister noted with pleasure that the Nordic countries have agreed to support Norway's proposal to work together on the themes of energy, protection of ecosystems and sustainability targets for Rio +20.

One important opportunity for such a dialogue with the emerging economies and the developing nations will be the meeting in Stockholm in April, forty years on from the the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment in 1972.

The Danish environment minister pointed out that the green economy is all about incorporating the environmental aspect into key economic decision-making processes. The Nordic countries have a proven track record on the green economy, e.g. on green procurement and green taxes, and must make active and collective use of these experiences at Rio +20 and during the Danish Presidency of the EU in 2012

The Danish climate minister stressed that recent price hikes on all resources make it even more obvious that joint solutions need to be sought for both the economic crisis and the resource crisis.

The Nordic governments, the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) and the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) have decided to focus on building the foundations for new flexible funding mechanisms to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in the developing world. Pilot projects in Vietnam and Peru are designed to combine lower emissions with market principles.

The Finnish environment minister said that the projects, the first of their kind, will be presented to the UN Climate Conference in South Africa in December and that the ministers hope that the experiences derived from the projects will serve as a source of inspiration to others.

Emissions of short-lived climate agents have a particularly serious impact on the melting of ice in the Arctic and the ministers also decided to hold a workshop to bring forward tangible proposals for dealing with the hitherto unregulated climate agents soot, methane and tropospheric ozone in order to slow down the rate at which the ice is melting. The Nordic countries want to show the way forward.

The Swedish minister stressed that short-lived climate agents are a highly topical issue for the Arctic Council, and that Sweden, which chairs the Council, is working to obtain a decision on tangible measures in the Arctic countries.   

Greenland's environment minister expressed a desire for co-operation to look at hormone-disrupting substances, mercury, PCBs, the marine environment in the Arctic, biodiversity and the sustainable development of resources and ecosystem services.

After their meeting, the ministers met with their parliamentary colleagues from the Nordic Council Environment Committee and discussed the Nordic deposit system, climate issues, an air-quality report by the WHO and the state of the Baltic Sea environment.

Contacts

Michael Funch
Phone +45 33960332
Email mifu@norden.org

Mats Ekenger
Phone +45 3396 0282
Email mek@norden.org

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