Climate hopes hinge on trading

EU greenhouse gas emissions are falling - but far too slowly The year 2002 saw the first fall this century in the greenhouse gas emissions of the 15 EU member countries. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the overall cut was just 0.5%. It’s partly attributed to a continued shift from coal to gas, and specific measures undertaken to reduce emissions - but other factors were either fortuitous or downright unintended, like warmer weather (cutting the demand for heating) and slower economic growth in manufacturing industries. And the picture varies across the spectrum of energy uses. Only in Germany, for instance, was there no actual increase in road vehicle emissions. More determined action will be needed to meet the EU’s emissions target for 2008-2012, under its Kyoto Protocol commitment. To achieve that, emissions must be 8% below the baseline year - which was 1990 for most member countries. The 2002 performance corresponds to a cut of only 2.9% since then. According to the European Environment Agency, whose Annual European Community Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990-2002 and Inventory Report 2004 contains this latest data, the UK is among the better performers. It is one of only four member states on track to meet Kyoto targets - together with France, Germany and Sweden. The other 11 are all heading for an overshoot, “some by a substantial margin”, with Spain the worst offender. The main hope of a significant improvement, the report suggests, is the EU emissions trading scheme, scheduled to start in January 2005.

7 September 2004