Britain Tries to Lower EU Carbon Goals, Leaked Papers Show

Great Britain is seeking to weaken a European global-warming goal by allowing more offsets instead of carbon reductions at home, leaked documents show. The EU has proposed cutting carbon emissions 20 percent by 2020, with no more than one-quarter of the reductions coming through credits for clean projects in the developing world. A UK discussion paper, dated Aug. 8 and reported by the Guardian, advocates doubling the credit cap, so that up to 50 percent of ostensible carbon cuts could derive from offsets. The move would allow Europe to emit 1 billion tons more carbon between 2013 and 2020, according to British calculations. Environmentalists blasted the proposal, noting studies that have shown that many offsets are bogus or bring only marginal improvements. Branding the plan as “climate vandalism,” a UK Green Party leader and member of the European Parliament said: “The British government is trying to buy its way out of climate change targets using unreliable credits from abroad.”