EU Backs CO2 Cuts by 2020, Promises China Major Reductions by 2050

European Union officials have approved a plan to reduce the continent’s greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent within 12 years, replacing the lost carbon fuels with renewable sources of energy. The landmark agreement, hammered out by lower-level officials, is expected to be approved on Thursday or Friday at a meeting of European leaders. Meanwhile, the EU’s environment commissioner, Stavros Dimas, said he has informed officials from China that the EU will pledge to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 85 to 90 percent by 2050 if China, India, and other developing countries approve a new climate deal next year. In return for the European offer of sweeping reductions, China and other rapidly developing nations would have to agree to reduce forecasted carbon pollution growth by 15 to 30 percent in the next decade, with more cuts likely later. The U.N. is currently hosting climate talks in Poznan, Poland in advance of a meeting in late 2009 in Copenhagen to negotiate a global climate treaty.