CLIMATE-EU 2 LAST

Asked about reports about attempts to move the climate
talks to a forum other than the UN, Ribera said that any
informal input to the negotiations was always welcome but not
as a substitute to the process.
However, she favoured informal talks among a group of
nations such as the Brazil, South Africa, India, China (BASIC)
bloc. "Some times dialogue is simpler in smaller groups," she
said.
She backed the UN-mandated climate talks saying that a
transparent process was the best way to generate confidence.
Ribera asserted that the EU would stick to its targets on
the emission reduction it had committed to in the Kyoto
Protocol.
On the issue of clean technology, Belgian Minister of
Climate and Energy Paul Magnette said that the EU would lead
the clean energy economy.
"We have the capacity and technology to reduce energy
consumption. The European Union believes that the nation that
will lead clean energy economy will lead global economy. We
can build a new way of working together by changing our ways
of use of energy," he said. PTI