Rifts in Europe Could Badly Weaken Climate Accord

The growing global economic crisis and fears among Eastern European nations that weaning themselves from heavily polluting coal-fired power plants will be prohibitively expensive pose a serious threat to a European agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, according to an analysis by Reuters. European climate experts fear that French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who currently holds the European Union presidency, will make so many concessions to protesting nations that “there’s a real risk that in the end the package will have no value in fighting climate change,” according to Cecile Kerebel of the French think tank IFRI. European officials hope to forge a climate accord next year that will cut the continent’s greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020 and by 80 percent by 2050. But Eastern European countries, rather than paying to emit carbon under a cap-and-trade scheme, want to be granted free emissions permits, a move that would weaken any accord. Italy also has said a tough climate agreement could be too costly to industry during the current recession.