News | Climate Change

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Resource-Wars/2010/10/13/EU-meeting-emissions-target/UPI-87971286976116/

The European Union is ahead of schedule on meeting its pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions under the terms of the Kyoto Protocol, a commissioner said.

A regular report from the European Commission found that the 25 members of the European Union are on target to meet reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol.
The 15 members of the EU at the time the protocol was signed agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 8 percent of 1990 levels.
Most of the nations that joined the EU agreed to similar reductions but there is no collective agreement for all 27 members. Cyprus and Malta haven't set an emission target.
The so-called EU-15 said their emissions were 6.9 percent lower than in 1990 even though the economy in the same 15 countries grew 45 percent, the commission said. For all 27 member states, emissions fell 14.3 percent from 1990-2008.
"The facts show that the world can count on the European Union; what we pledge we also deliver," said Connie Hedegaard, the European commissioner for climate action, in a statement. "In this case we are actually heading to overachieving."
The European Environment Agency in a separate report found emissions in 2009 declined because of the poor economy.