FT: EU seeks binding emissions target debate

The European Union will look at whether it needs to keep setting the legally binding targets that have made it a world leader in tackling greenhouse gas pollution, a draft paper on the bloc’s future climate and energy policies shows.

The EU’s 27 members were among the first to impose mandatory targets for cutting the gas emissions that scientists say are likely to warm the planet to potentially dangerous levels in coming decades.

EU leaders agreed more than five years ago to reduce those emissions by 20 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020, and boost the share of renewable energy by 20 per cent over the same period.  MORE