A report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) concludes that the EU-15 should meet its collective target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by eight per cent for the period 2008-2012.
The analysis offered a long-term estimate of the emissions situation across Europe and concluded that although emissions are projected to continue decreasing until 2020 in the EU-27, the 20 per cent reduction target compared to 1990, which was endorsed by European leaders last year, is likely to remain out of reach unless additional measures are implemented.
According to the EEA report much of the success in reaching the original target for 2008-2012 will be due to the emission reduction projects that the EU countries will finance in other countries. However, for the 2020 target to be reached the likes of an EU energy and climate change package will need to be introduced.
The report, labelled Greenhouse gas emission trends and projections in Europe 2008, takes a close look at emissions from 1990-2006 while looking at projections made in the Kyoto Protocol.
It concludes that the EU-15 could cut emissions by more than 11 per cent compared to the base year as long as additional measures are fully implemented and on time.
The overall target to reduce emissions by eight per cent corresponds to different targets for different member states. France, Greece, Sweden and the UK reached a level below the Kyoto target in 2006, while Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Portugal project they will reach their targets on time. Meanwhile, Denmark, Italy and Spain indicate they will not reach their emission reduction goals.
