Environment – from water to Bali

Water, biodiversity and climate change will be top of the list for EU environment ministers under the Portuguese presidency.

Portugal will represent the EU at the UN climate change talks in Bali in December, the first high-level international climate meeting since Japan and Canada agreed to join the EU in aiming for a 50% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The Bali talks will focus on a post-2012 replacement for the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.

Portugal says it also hopes to negotiate a second reading agreement on the air quality and marine environment directives before the end of the year. It will also be pushing for political agreement on the soil directive.

A wide-ranging maritime strategy, covering all sectors from shipping and fisheries to tourism, is also likely to be proposed under the Portuguese presidency.

A September informal Environment Council in Portugal will see ministers discuss water scarcity and drought in the EU, following a water communication due from the European Commission in July.

Portugal will also push for greater business interest in biodiversity at a conference to be held in Lisbon in November. The conference follows a 2006 EU communication on biodiversity, which stresses the economic value of natural resources and aims to produce a biodiversity code of conduct for business.

Water, biodiversity and climate change will be top of the list for EU environment ministers under the Portuguese presidency.