France, Germany Urge More Flexible Climate Pact.

"France and Germany suggested on Monday that rich nations should collectively guarantee deep cuts in greenhouse gases by 2020 while giving flexibility to laggards such as the US to catch up later. ...

French Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo told a news conference on the first day of the two-day talks among ministers, called by US President Barack Obama to help work out a new climate treaty. He said France and Germany reckoned that developed nations could collectively sign up to cut their overall emissions by 25 to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 ...

Countries which have said they cannot reach such deep 2020 goals, led by the US, could contribute to a new pact in other ways, for instance via a bigger share of financing or green technologies for developing nations, Borloo said. ..." [Reuters/Factiva]

Deutsche Welle reports that "...German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said, however, that developing countries were also still not ready to commit to decreasing carbon emissions. 'The longer it takes for industrialized nations to have a common position, the longer we will have to wait until China and India move (on climate change),' he said in Paris. ...

'The world's destiny will probably be at stake in Copenhagen,' Borloo said. 'Copenhagen is not a retrograde vision, it's not the start of negative (economic) growth, but a new start for strong, sustainable, sober carbon development.' ..." [Deutsche Welle (Germany)/Factiva]

In a separate piece, Reuters notes that "Tens of billions of dollars are likely to be needed to help poor nations curb greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change under a new UN treaty, European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said.

'Everybody agreed that additional money is needed and without money an agreement in Copenhagen will not be possible,' Dimas told Reuters after the first day of a two-day meeting of 17 major greenhouse gas emitters in Paris on Monday. ...

The EU will debate climate finances at a summit on June 18-19 after delays partly caused by recession that has hit state coffers. EU leaders have previously agreed to contribute their fair share to developing nations, Dimas said.

Asked how much cash he reckoned was needed to help curb emissions, Dimas noted a European Commission document in January quoted independent researchers' estimates of net global incremental investments of EUR 175 billion ($245 billion) by 2020. Half of that total would be needed in developing nations. ..." [Reuters/Factiva]