"Warsaw this year and Lima next year will be the last stages before reaching the long-awaited global climate change agreement in Paris in 2015. It is crucial that we start laying the basis for success in Paris now," Mazuronis said.
"We will need to implement what we have already agreed on, most notably to ratify the Doha amendment to the Kyoto Protocol that establishes greenhouse gas reduction commitments from 2013 until 2020 as soon as possible. Enhancement of pre-2020 mitigation ambition would contribute to an ambitious 2015 international agreement and therefore there is a need for Ministers to engage in discussions on the issue. We will need to use some creative thinking in order to advance work on the design of the 2015 agreement," he added.
The Council negotiated and adopted the Council conclusions on the basis of the compromise proposal of the presidency. The conclusions will enable the Lithuanian presidency, which will be leading the European delegation in Warsaw, and the European Commission to present the united EU position at the Warsaw Climate Conference.
The Council deliberated two legislative proposals during the sessions. Ministers exchanged their views on proposed amendments to the Regulation on Shipments of Waste and discussed a draft regulation on ways to reach the 2020 target to reduce CO2 emissions from new passenger cars.
Ministers had a debate on green infrastructure.
