EU to toughen up carbon targets if Copenhagen succeeds

The European Union yesterday sought to cement its position as a leader in the fight against climate change, pledging to sign up to more ambitious emission targets if an international treaty is agreed at the UN's Copenhagen climate change summit in December.

European environment ministers meeting to finalise the bloc's negotiating position ahead of the historic talks reiterated the EU's commitment to upgrading its 2020 emission reduction target from 20 to 30 per cent in the event of a deal being reached, and also pledged to sign up 80 to 95 per cent cuts by 2050.

The group also agreed to new targets for aviation and shipping emissions, both of which are currently not covered by the Kyoto Protocol, proposing a 10 per cent cut in aviation emissions by 2020 and a 20 per cent reduction in shipping emissions by the same date.

Andreas Carlgren, the Swedish environment minister who chaired the meeting in Luxembourg, said the EU had a strong and united negotiating position ahead of Copenhagen and was prepared to make quantifiable commitments to ensure a deal is finalised. "This should be seen as a clear message to the world," he said. "We expect to reach an agreement in Copenhagen."

However, behind the scenes there were signs of opposition to some aspects of the deal, with a number of member states arguing that with the US, China and India yet to confirm their negotiating position the EU should have kept its cards closer to its chest ahead of the December summit.

Calls for a more traditional approach to negotiating were rejected by Stavros Dimas, the European commissioner for the environment. "I've heard arguments about tactics," he said. "But by telling the decision now, we encourage other countries to come with their proposals. We don't gain anything by not reaching a decision."

There were also indications of an East-West split with a number of former Eastern Bloc states calling for reforms to the European emissions trading scheme designed to protect their domestic coal industries and criticising proposals for them to stop selling the excess emission rights they currently hold under the Kyoto Protocol.

The collapse of the Eastern European economy following the end of the Cold War left many states holding large numbers of excess Assigned Amount Units (AAUs) which they have been able to sell to countries struggling to meet their Kyoto targets. Western member states have proposed an end to the practice from 2013, but so far a number of eastern countries have resisted the proposed reforms.

Carlgren insisted that the retirement of AAUs should be a central feature of the EU's negotiating position. "They could affect the environmental integrity of the EU," he warned, adding that "we have to discuss that issue further".

The row comes a day after EU finance ministers failed to agree on proposals for funding to help developing countries adapt to climate change. British chancellor Alistair Darling had set out plans for the EU to provide at least €10bn a year to developing countries from 2020, but a number of states led by Poland opposed the proposals arguing that they could not afford to provide funding to economies such as India and China that are already expanding rapidly.

Germany's environment minister, Sigmar Gabriel, predicted the funding row would be resolved next week at a meeting of member states' leaders. "The EU will not dare to have no opinion on the financing issue," he said. "The heads of state and government will find a solution."