Europe’s environment ministers omitted any mention of stopping vested interests participating in global climate negotiations in a formal statement released in advance of next month’s talks in Bonn, Germany.
The statement was released earlier this week at the conclusion of discussions between the environment ministers from the EU‘s 27 member states as part of the Council of the European Union.
In doing so, the council failed to follow the example of the European Parliament that last week passed a similar motion, which said that “ensuring effective participation requires that the issue of vested or conflicting interests be addressed” at the meeting. The council represents the voices of all the EU’s member state governments, in this case through the environment ministers, and has the power to include or omit positions promoted by the parliament.
