Wealthiest states face toughest carbon cuts

The EU’s new member states will be allowed to continue increasing their greenhouse gas emissions, while the wealthiest countries will be expected to cut theirs, under plans to share the burden of meeting the EU’s climate change targets.

The European Commission will appeal to "solidarity" when it proposes greenhouse-gas emissions limits for each country on 23 January as part of a package of draft laws on energy and climate change. The Commission is planning that the burden will be shared out on a basis of relative levels of gross domestic product (GDP) per person.

In March 2007, EU leaders signed up to cut carbon emissions by 20% from 1990 levels by 2020, with an offer to extend this to a 30% cut if other countries join in. They also agreed that 20% of Europe’s energy needs should come from renewable sources by 2020.

The draft proposal says that new member states will be allowed to increase their emissions compared to 2005 levels, although they will be expected to limit the growth of their greenhouse-gas emissions. But member states that currently have a relatively high GDP per person will be told that they must reduce their greenhouse emissions compared to 2005. This means that the UK, France and Germany will be called upon to shoulder a greater share of the carbon cuts.

"Member states’ reduction efforts should be based on the principle of solidarity between member states," says the draft proposal on burden-sharing - referred to as "effort-sharing" in the Commission document.

The burden-sharing document will set two individual targets for all member states. The first will be a target for member states on greenhouse-gas emissions in 2020 (compared to 2005) to allow for an EU-wide 20% cut. The second target would apply in the event of an international agreement on climate change that required the EU to make a 30% cut in emissions.

A draft seen by European Voice, which was sent out to Commission departments earlier this week, contained no figures. Officials representing different member states said that the final figures had not been agreed. The final calculations may not be worked out until the day of publication.

The draft renewables directive also appeals to solidarity and calls for countries to share the duty of meeting the 2020 target of 20%. Again the draft proposal does not contain numbers, but sources familiar with the discussions say that each country will face a mandatory target of 7.75%-8%. The remainder of the 20% will be achieved through further individual targets set at between 8-9% for new member states and 13-14% for the richest member states. The individual targets are set according to GDP "to reflect fairness and cohesion" states the Commission draft.

EU leaders want to use the targets as a demonstration of the EU’s seriousness in tackling climate change. Referring to the burden-sharing target, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša said on Tuesday (8 January): "It is of great importance how we are going to define the general criteria for distribution [of the target]. The same general criteria that we will apply to member states will then also have to be defended at a global level in order for us to remain a credible partner in talking to China, the US and India and all other countries."

Karl-Heinz Florenz, a German centre-right MEP, said: "Germany has to be in front of the whole movement because we are a developed country. It is an economic chance and helps industry to develop cleaner techniques." Last year, the German government set a unilateral target to reduce its emissions by 40% by 2020.

Florenz said: "It is possible that we would see other countries going with us, but alone for Germany it is too high."

But it is unlikely that the EU will ask Germany to go beyond its unilateral target of 40%.

Asked to comment on the targets, a spokeswoman for the UK government, which is set to announce a new generation of nuclear power stations, said: "We are fully committed to achieving the [2020] targets and look to do this in the most cost-effective and credible manner."

The EU’s new member states will be allowed to continue increasing their greenhouse gas emissions, while the wealthiest countries will be expected to cut theirs, under plans to share the burden of meeting the EU’s climate change targets.