EU likely to lift target for greenhouse gas cuts by 2020 to 30 percent

The Associated Press
Published: July 3, 2008

PARIS: European Union leaders are likely to raise their target to cut emissions of greenhouse gases to 30 percent by 2020, up from the current target of 20 percent, Czech Environment Minister Martin Bursik said Thursday.
"The 20 percent target on greenhouse gas cuts will very probably change into 30 percent," Bursik told reporters at a briefing during an informal summit of EU environment and energy ministers taking place near Paris.
French Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said that a 20 percent cut in comparison to 1990 levels remained the 27-nation bloc's goal, but that the environment ministers were "looking at ways of changing that to 30 percent."
EU leaders last year pledged to cut the bloc's overall greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, or by 30 percent if the United States, Japan and others join Europe in a global international emissions trading scheme.
The emissions cuts, together with energy savings and the promotion of clean energies, are part of a package of measures that EU wants to see adopted by year's end.