23 November 2009: EU Environment Ministers gathered at an extra meeting of the Environment Council on 23 November 2009, in Brussels, Belgium, to undertake a final review of the EU position ahead of the climate change conference in Copenhagen in December.
During the meeting, Yvo de Boer presented the state of play in the negotiations and provided an overview of parties’ positions. Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren underscored that for the EU “Copenhagen is not ‘a step’, it is ‘the step’, it is the milestone in the work on climate change” and that “Copenhagen must also be the starting point for rapid measures against deforestation, and money for this must be made available immediately.” [EU Presidency Press Release]