31 March 2010
ACP Countries and EU Discuss Improved Partnership on Climate Change
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29 March 2010: The 20th session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly between African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and the EU is being held in Tenerife, Spain, from 29 March-1 April 2010, to further discuss climate change cooperation, among other things.

On 29 March, Andris Piebalgs, European Commissioner for development, delivered a speech in which […]

29 March 2010: The 20th session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly between African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and the EU is being held in Tenerife, Spain, from 29 March-1 April 2010, to further discuss climate change cooperation, among other things.

On 29 March, Andris Piebalgs, European Commissioner for development, delivered a speech in which he stressed partnership as the only way to deal with global challenges, such as climate change, to which he referred as a key hurdle for development cutting across all Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). He also considered climate change a “test case” for the EU to build political alliances with all countries involved, to ensure that promised new resources, such as fast-start funding in the Copenhagen Accord, reach developing countries in an aid-effective way without creating new layers of bureaucracy.
He proposed increasing cooperation in the area of climate change under the ACP-EU framework, and suggested that more countries be provided additional financial support during 2010 for priority capacity building and urgent investments in adaptation. He also called for increased policy dialogue on climate change, to better understand needs and expectations, share positions, and possibly promote convergence of visions ahead of the next UNFCCC Conference of the Parties in Cancun, Mexico, at the end of 2010.
On the sidelines of the Assembly, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Secretary-General of the ACP Group, and Margareta Wahlström, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General responsible for the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR), signed a Memorandum of Understanding between UN/ISDR and the ACP Group on 29 March 2010. [Piebalgs’ Speech] [ACP Announcement]

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