EU wants Paris climate deal to cut carbon emissions 60% by 2050

(guardian-, 23 Feb 2015) The world’s states should commit to a legally binding emissions cut of 60% by 2050, with five-yearly reviews, in a Paris Protocol to replace the moribund Kyoto agreement at a climate summit later this year, according to a leaked EU document.

But environmentalists have questioned the integrity of the headline 60% figure, and a strategy which is seen as overly-tilted towards the US.

“Major economies, in particular the EU, China and the US, should show political leadership by joining the Protocol as early as possible,” says the EU’s ‘Road to Paris 2015’ communication, which the Guardian has seen. “It should enter into force as soon as countries with a share of 80% of current global emissions have ratified it.

The EU accounts for nine percent of global emissions, compared to China’s 24%, and the 12% emitted by the US, according to the document. “Combined, these targets would cover around half of global emissions,” it says.

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guardian-, 23 Feb 2015: EU wants Paris climate deal to cut carbon emissions 60% by 2050