Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Climate Change Minister Joan Ruddock took time off from her bilateral meetings with other European ministers to brief British parliamentarians on how the talks were going.

Joan explained that Britain was pushing the EU to put its most ambitious offer on the table.

Also as Stern has shown us, the longer we delay making the necessary cuts in emissions, the more it costs anyway.

A 30% cut will also have a positive effect on carbon pricing and therefore improve the working of the carbon markets.

She has been trying to ensure that the Europeans do not backtrack at this time, but show a lead. It was the right thing to do, but also may help to pull in the most ambitious deal possible.

Joan also emphasisied, as all the delegation does, the importance of putting together a system and money to help the developing world and she explained what the British were doing to try to push the talks along on this.

She was asked what she imagined the worst case scenario was for the end of the week and said that she simply couldn't allow herself to think that way. It was very important to remain positive and keep pushing.

In answer to a question about how much sleep she expected to get in the next few days, she said that the upside was that it was a huge privilege to be involved in these vital talks about the future of the planet and that she was proud of our country in the lead it had taken.