The 27-member European Union agreed on binding targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 20 per cent below their 1990 levels by the year 2020, and to generate 20 per cent of their power through renewable sources by the same year. The targets for greenhouse gas emissions and renewal-energy usage would apply to the EU as a whole, allowing national goals to vary.
The goal of reducing greenhouse gases by 20 per cent could increase to 30 per cent, the EU said, if other countries such as the United States, Russia, China and India join the effort. The EU agreement will form the basis of Europe’s position in international talks to replace the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions, which expires in 2012.
The EU agreement requires that 20 per cent of its energy be generated from renewable sources like wind and solar power by the year 2020. Currently, renewable energy accounts for less than 7 per cent of the energy used by European nations. The accord also requires member nations to fuel 10 per cent of their cars and trucks on biofuels made from plants by 2020.
The European agreement is “the most ambitious package ever agreed to by any commission or any group of countries on energy security and climate protection,” said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who currently holds the presidency of the EU, challenged the rest of the world to join Europe’s effort, saying there still was time to “avoid what could well be a human calamity” caused by an overheated planet.