COP18 (04/12/12) – Greg Barker, UK Energy and Climate Change Minister talks about how different the Doha conference is to the last two climate talks in the aftermath of Copenhagen. He says we are a “million miles away from Cancun.”

He said the agreements in Durban last year were significant but that it is still only a commitment to commit. He stresses that a lot of work needs to be done to set out a clear work plan to 2020 in Doha. He says they do not want to be left with the same situation as in Copenhagen when everything was left to the last minute.

He stresses the importance of the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol which will take countries to 2020 but stresses that the EU has to make it clear to other negotiating groups such as AOSIS that this will not lock out ambition. He stresses that there needs to be a mechanism within the commitment to allow for the review of emission reduction targets.

He says there needs to be more of what was experienced in Durban when the EU came together with groups including AOSIS and the LDCs to work together and build a new consensus.

He also says that it is dangerous to split the attribution of blame between the developed and developing world. He says the world is now at a tipping point when developing nations will be taking over in terms of emissions. He stresses this does not take away from the responsibility of the developed countries who started the world on the pathway to climate change, and says the EU wants to engage in discussions on equity and fairness.