NYT: E.U. Greenhouse Gas Deal Falls Short of Expectations
The deal reached early Friday by the to cap its greenhouse gas emissions was meant to increase pressure on the rest of the world to achieve a landmark accord on climate protection next year, the bloc’s leaders said.
The approval of a target to slash emissions by 2030 by at least 40 percent, compared with 1990 levels, makes the European Union the first major global emitter to put its position on the table ahead of an important United Nations climate meeting in Paris at the end of 2015.
That target will send “a strong signal to other big economies and all other countries,” said Connie Hedegaard, the European Union commissioner for climate action. “We have done our homework; now we urge you to follow Europe’s example,” she said.