Funding for climate change adaptation by the developing countries was one of the discussion topics on the second day of the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. The EU’s Chief Negotiators also met with a series of European environment and youth organisations for a dialogue on the upcoming week’s negotiations.

During one of the major plenary meetings which was held on Tuesday and included all of the participating 192 countries at the Climate Change Conference, focus was on the issue of financing. Discussions primarily concerned the situation in developing countries – how to best allocate and distribute money to curb emissions.

Later in the day, the EU held its daily press conference. During the press conference there were references to the discussions held over the past few days on whether the EU should raise their level for emission reductions to 30 per cent by 2020.

 “We have an ongoing discussion. At the end of the day, it depends upon the bids placed by other countries, but our goal is to be able to raise levels to 30 per cent”, said EU Chief Negotiator Anders Turesson.

Met with associations

During the Tuesday afternoon, the EU’s negotiators met some 130 representatives of European environmental organisations – from church networks to field biologists and climate change activists. Several of the participants, of which many represented various youth organisations, argued that the EU is too passive and should push harder for the 30 per cent goal.

“The discussions held at conferences such as these often have a higher perspective. It is important to listen to more voices”, summarised Anders Turesson after the conclusion of the meeting.