At its scheduled meeting on 21 October 2009 in Luxembourg, the EU Council of Environment Ministers adopted a comprehensive set of conclusions as a contribution to development of a final EU policy position for the climate change conference which will be held in Copenhagen in December. This contribution from Environment Ministers is reflected in the conclusions subsequently adopted by the European Council at its meeting on 29 and 30 October.
One of the most important outcomes from an environmental perspective is the EU agreement to an objective, in the context of the scientific advice on the level of reductions required from developed countries as a group, to reduce emissions by 80-95% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels. This level of ambition is consistent with EU leadership on climate change and I hope it will influence other countries to embrace the objective of limiting the increase in average global temperature to no more that 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
I am pleased that, in the conclusions adopted by the Council, the EU has reinforced its commitment, determination and leadership in pursuit of a positive outcome at the Copenhagen conference.