EU leaders endorse new target to cut greenhouse gas emissions

Source: Xinhuanet | 03-09-2007 09:37

The heads of state and government of the European Union (EU) have their group picture taken on the summit in the EU headquarters in Brussels, capital of Belgium on March 8, 2007. They gathered on Thursday evening for their spring summit which will focus on energy policy and climate change. (Xinhua Photo)

BRUSSELS, March 8 (Xinhua) -- The European Union members approved a new target late Thursday to cut the bloc's greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent from the 1990 level in 2020.

"After the broad-ranging debate, we reached an agreement about the general reduction objective," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country is holding the EU presidency.

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, proposed in January that the 27-nation bloc should unilaterally commit itself to a new target of reducing its dioxide emissions by 20 percent in 2020 compared to 1990, and if other international major polluters like the United States join in, the EU would support a higher target of 30 percent by that time.

Climate change was high on the agenda when leaders from the 27 EU member states kicked off their two-day Spring Summit Thursday, which usually focuses on economic matters.