Following the adoption of conclusions on climate finance and fast start finance by the EU Council of Finance Ministers today, Connie Hedegaard issued this statement:

"Despite severe economic constraints, Europe is delivering. We are on track to meet our commitments of providing €7.2 billion for climate finance over the period 2010-2012. This is a very important achievement as it represents the result of joint efforts taken in a very difficult economic context. And we can see already concrete results in many developing countries! Developing countries can count on Europe to continue to provide climate finance after 2012."

Read more:

• Council conclusions on climate finance – fast start finance

Background

The EU is the world’s largest provider of official development assistance and of climate finance to developing countries. At the Copenhagen climate change conference in 2009, developed countries pledged to provide a total of nearly US $30 billion in so-called ‘fast start’ climate finance over the three years 2010 to 2012 to help developing countries mitigate their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change. The EU and its Member States committed to provide €7.2 billion of this amount, or almost one third of the global total.

Information from Member States indicates that €7.1 billion has already been provided, and it is expected that the €7.2 billion pledge will be reached or even overachieved when Member State reports are updated and finalised next year. The European Commission pledged €150 million over the three years as its contribution, and has in fact provided €155 million.

The EU and its Member States will continue to provide climate finance to developing countries in 2013. The EU remains fully committed to the goal of mobilising US$ 100bn a year from developed countries by 2020 from public, private and innovative sources, in the context of meaningful mitigation action and transparency on implementation by developing countries.