French President Francois Hollande yesterday called for deeper cuts in European Union carbon dioxide emissions as he sought to put the environment back at the top of the international agenda. Hollande recommended a 40 per cent cut in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2030 and a 60 per cent reduction by 2040 at the European Union level, well beyond the 20 per cent target set for 2020.
"We have an ambitious strategy," Hollande told an environment conference in Paris, adding he would defend those targets at the European Union level. The EU's current target is to cut emissions by 20 pct below 1990 levels by 2020. It has said it would consider moving to a 30 per cent cut by 2020 if other rich economies followed suit with a similar level of ambition, but that is looking increasingly unlikely due to economic constraints caused by the euro zone crisis and opposition from some EU member states.
Hollande also said Europe would reiterate its 20 per cent cut target at the next round of UN climate talks in Doha in November.
CO2 emissions rose by 3.2 per cent last year to 31.6 billion tonnes, spurred by increases from China, according to estimates from the Paris-based International Energy Agency.
Read more: France seeks ambitious EU carbon cuts | Oman Observer
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