Brussels, 15/07/2004 (Agence Europe) - After two consecutive years of increase, greenhouse gas emissions in the EU of Fifteen saw a slight fall in 2002 compared to 2001. The most recent estimations of the European Environment Agency (EEA) put this reduction in the emissions of six greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol on climate change at 0.5%. This is encouraging news, but hardly grounds for congratulation given that the EU's objective under the Kyoto Protocol is to reduce its total emission by 8% between 2008 and 2012 (from 1990, the reference year). The EEA puts this small step forward down mainly to policies implemented to phase out coal and replace it with gas and a hot summer which reduced the heating requirements of the manufacturing industry and households in many Member States. The 2002 reduction in emissions was 3% compared to the reference year. However, to be on target for the Kyoto objective, this reduction should have been 4.8%.
Margot Wallström, Commissioner for the Environment, stressed in a press release that the progress made must be to the credit of the Member States, which have committed to courageous anti-climate change policies ahead of time. "However, this only goes for some Member States. Most of them must take additional measures urgently and maintain those already taken", warned the Commissioner.