Poots highlights the need for a global deal in Copenhagen

Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, will today update Environment Minister Edwin Poots on progress being made at the UN Copenhagen Climate Change Summit.

Minister Poots will be taking time out of his fact finding visit to the Danish waste management facilities to attend the international conference. The conference is designed to achieve a globally binding deal to reduce emissions.

Minister Poots said: “Mr Miliband is leading negotiations on behalf of the UK, and therefore I felt it was important for me, as the Environment Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive, to show my support in this very difficult task of reducing emissions globally.

“In the run up to the event I have emphasised the need for any deal reached to be truly global. All countries must commit to tackling the problem, otherwise economic activity will just be displaced and there will be no overall benefit to the environment.

“As with most things in life it is a question of balance. I see a good deal as one that achieves our environmental goals but without unreasonable burdens placed on commerce, the economy and citizens.”

Minister Poots itinerary also includes attendance at the Scottish Government’s “Low Carbon Mission” event where he will meet with his Scottish and Welsh counterparts Stewart Stevenson and Jane Davidson.

Notes to editors:

1. The Minister will be visiting Denmark from 14 – 16 December. He is combining visits to Danish waste facilities with attendance at events linked to the UN Climate Change Conference.
2. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an intergovernmental treaty developed to address climate change. Parties to the Convention, i.e., those countries that have signed up to the UNFCCC meet annually, at the Conference of the Parties (COP), which is the highest level of decision making under the Convention. In 2007 at COP13 in Bali, Parties agreed to shape an ambitious and effective international response to climate change, to be agreed at COP15 in Copenhagen in December 2009. This would be effective from 2013 as the first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol ends in 2012.
3. The UNFCCC is ratified by 192 countries – representing near universal membership – it commands near universal support and its legitimacy is unquestioned.
4. All media enquiries should be directed to the DOE press Office on 028 9054 0003. Out of office hours please contact the duty press officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.