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Last update: 23.12.2008

December 2008

EU: Final adoption of climate and energy package

Source : europa.eu

With today's vote in the European Parliament on the climate and energy package, the EU has finalised a deal that will help Europe transform into a low-carbon economy and increase energy security. Fully in line with the Commission's proposals in January 2008, agreement has been reached on legally binding targets, by 2020, to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, to establish a 20% share for renewable energy, and to improve energy efficiency by 20%. Deals were hammered out on revisions to the emissions trading system, the distribution of the reduction effort outside of the emissions trading system, a legal framework for environmentally safe carbon capture and storage (CCS) as well as on the related proposals on CO2 emissions from cars and on fuel quality. As the first region in the world to commit to such far-reaching and legally binding emission reductions, Europe is leading the fight against climate change. Today's vote is an important contribution towards an ambitious international climate agreement to be reached in Copenhagen by the end of 2009.