Development and climate change require extra funds

摘要

Climate change is harming efforts aimed at achieving the Millennium Development Goals (sustainable development and poverty reduction) and could have a serious impact on security issues, EU foreign affairs ministers stressed as they insisted on the need to integrate the fight against climate change into development aid. While stressing in their conclusions, adopted on 16 March, that a real effort must be agreed for the least developed countries (LDC) and the small island developing states (SIDS), the twenty-seven also recalled that developing countries are primarily responsible for their own development. The ministers confirmed that the EU is ready to shoulder its share of the effort but put more emphasis on developing countries' own responsibility than was in the draft European Council conclusions in circulation at the end of last week.