European Union environment ministers have agreed to push for the goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius at this year’s UN Climate Change Conference in Azerbaijan.

“Limiting warming to 1.5ºC requires collective effort and further action from all countries, especially major economies,’’ the ministers from the 27-member bloc said in a statement after a meeting in Luxembourg.

The plans should include “economy-wide and absolute reduction targets that cover all greenhouse gases,’’ the statement said.

The EU also wants to promote the agreement of a new common target for supporting developing and emerging countries, with more contributors to be included.

This would be based on a country’s economic capabilities and its share of states in global greenhouse gas emissions since the early 1990s. The existing climate financing target was agreed to by industrialised countries in 2009.

It was established to mobilise 100 billion dollars annually from 2020 onwards for climate protection and adaptation to climate change in developing countries.

The Paris Climate Agreement confirmed the target in 2015 and extended until 2025.

In 2022, the goal of $100 billion annually was reached for the first time. However, the question now is how to proceed after 2025.

The UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) will open on November 11 in Baku until November 22.

Azerbaijan, an oil and gas-rich country on the Caspian Sea, has come under international criticism for human rights violations and the repression of dissent but remains an important energy supplier to the EU. 

(dpa/NAN)