EU leaders reach new climate deal

Critics fear the climate deal may have been undermined by compromises

European Union leaders have reached a deal on a package of measures to fight global warming.

The plan, agreed at a Brussels summit, sets out how 27 member-countries will cut carbon emissions by 20% by 2020.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the summit chairman, said something “quite historic” had happened in Brussels.

But critics pointed to concessions made to some nations, saying they would lessen the long-term impact of the package.

Scientists say carbon dioxide emissions need to be cut by 25-40% by 2020 for there to be a reasonable chance of avoiding dangerous climate change.

In other developments:

The measures, which also require approval by the European Parliament to become law, commit the EU to cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 20% by 2020, compared to 1990 levels.

It must also raise renewable sources to 20% of total energy use.

EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called the plans “the most ambitious proposals anywhere in the world”.

“Europe has today passed its credibility test. We mean business when we talk about climate,” he said, appealing to US President-elect Barack Obama to follow Europe’s lead.

But critics said the package – which includes concessions to some Eastern European countries – did not go far enough.

“This is a flagship EU policy with no captain, a mutinous crew and several gaping holes in it,” said Sanjeev Kumar of WWF.

‘Watering down’

At the same time, a UN climate conference has been taking place in Poznan, Poland, where former US presidential candidate John Kerry said the United States was set to lead the world towards a new climate deal.

Mr Kerry, who is representing Mr Obama, said the aim of agreeing a deal by next year had to remain on track.

Environmental groups at the Poznan conference have reacted angrily to what they see as unacceptable watering down in draft final EU texts.

Tags: Angela Merkel, Clima, Europe, Nicolas Sarkozy