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UK makes biggest emission cuts in Europe
October 25, 2012
UK makes biggest emission cuts in Europe
UK has cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than any other European country last year, over-achieving on targets under the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. France and Germany also made sizeable cuts in emissions but Spain and Italy are lagging and are in danger of missing their Kyoto targets.
The EU as a whole will meet its target under the 1997 treaty which required developed countries to cut their emissions by a total of just over 5% from 1990 levels by the end of 2012. Currently, EU member states are the only major countries pledging to continue the Kyoto Protocol beyond the end of this year when its current provisions expire. If countries cannot cut their own emissions sufficiently, their only option is to buy “carbon credits” under the United Nations’ emissions trading system. However, this could represent a substantial cost for economies that are falling behind.
“The European Union as a whole will over-deliver on its Kyoto target,” said Jacqueline McGlade, Executive Director of the European Environment Agency. “In two months’ time, we will be at the end of the first commitment period under the Kyoto protocol. Considerable progress has been made since 1997 but all member states need to deliver on their plans.”
Read more at Guardian Environment Network.
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