| The European Union must raise its
emissions targets if it is to compete with the likes of China,
Japan or the United States in the race for green technology,
ministers from some of the bloc's most powerful nations have
said.
Writing in the Financial Times, UK Energy Minister Chris
Huhne, German Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen and French
Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo urged the EU to slash greenhouse
gas emissions by 30 percent from the current 20 percent target
by 2020.
"If we stick to a 20 percent cut, Europe is likely to lose
the race to compete in the low-carbon world to countries such
as China, Japan or the US - all of which are looking to create
a more attractive environment for low-carbon investment,"
they wrote in a recent column published on the FT's website.
The 27-nation bloc currently plans to cut CO2
by 20 percent over the next decade and has always said it
would only deepen to 30 percent on the condition that other
countries around the world take similar steps.
However, the ministers said the recession had knocked a third
off the cost of meeting the current goal and failing to deepen
the cuts now would lead to higher costs in the future.
"Ducking the argument on 30 percent will put us in the global
slow lane," the ministers wrote. "It is a policy for jobs
and growth, energy security and climate risk - most of all,
it is a policy for Europe's future."
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