EU Adopts Climate Change Targets Including 40 % Cut In Emissions for December’s Paris Conference

07 March, Paris

The European Union, EU, formally adopted climate change targets for December’s Paris Conference including a 40 per cent cut in emissions by 2030, Climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete said.

The targets were agreed on by leaders of the 28 European Union member-states at a summit in October, but the confirmed benchmarks have now been officially sent to the United Nations, Canete added.

Canete said after a meeting of EU environment ministers in Brussels Friday that there is an agreement, but it was not an easy matter. French Minister Segolene Royal added that Europe is the first continent to send its contribution, as was asked by the United Nations.

The offer of the EU, which is responsible for nine per cent of global emissions of greenhouse gases, was sent to the UN secretariat.