European Governments back climate gas cut

Citation

(2007), "European Governments back climate gas cut", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 18 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/meq.2007.08318dab.002

European Governments back climate gas cut

European Environment Ministers have agreed to back a target for industrialised countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by the end of the next decade. They are also willing to back a unilateral 20 per cent cut within the EU if international talks on a successor to the Kyoto climate protocol fail.

In a resolution adopted in the winter, EU governments now -for the first time- formally support key points in a post-2012 global climate policy. Drafted by the German EU presidency, the resolution says the EU will commit to a 30 per cent cut in emissions by 2020 if other developed countries, such as the US, commit to “comparable emission reductions”, and if economically more advanced developing countries, such as China, “adequately contribute” to global climate goals. The draft also contains a “firm independent commitment” by the EU to cut gases by at least 20 per cent “until a global and comprehensive post-2012 agreement is concluded”.