Countries worldwide must make deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, the European Commission urged Friday, arguing that a new United Nations report on climate change backed Europe's efforts to fight climate change, REPORTED DPA. "It is now time for the rest of the international community to follow our lead and commit to ambitious reduction targets," EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said. Dimas said that the new UN report confirmed the EU's view that global emissions must start to fall within the next 15 years and then be cut to around half of 1990 levels by 2050 "if the world is to have a fair chance of preventing irreversible and possibly catastrophic global changes." The 27-member EU earlier this year vowed bold action in the fight against climate change, setting a binding target of slashing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 per cent by 2020, and agreeing a 20-per-cent share of renewables in the bloc's overall energy consumption. This will be followed by a 30-per-cent reduction in emissions provided other industrialized nations like the United States follow suit. The EU also wants emerging nations and key polluters like China and India to make "adequate contributions" to achieve the goals. Dimas also said that talks on a new global climate-change pact must be launched at the next UN ministerial conference in December. The EU's new stance will be the basis for fresh negotiations on a new international climate-change treaty, which would replace the current Kyoto Protocol as of 2012. Dimas' comments came as climate experts and representatives from 105 countries released Friday a 35-page report in Bangkok that outlined ways and means of preventing a climatic catastrophe due to global warming which is expected to help guide world opinion on the hot political issue. The report projects that unless urgent action is taken global emissions in 2030 will be up to 90 per cent higher than today.
