EU-15 sees first decrease in greenhouse gases in two years 

The EU-15 countries have recorded a slight decrease in greenhouse gas emissions, with latest estimates from the European Environment Agency pointing to a 0.5% drop between 2001 and 2002.

However, the decrease was mainly due to the reduced need for heating in homes and offices due to warmer weather, indicates the Copenhagen-based agency. The other main reasons given for the decline were the economic slowdown in the manufacturing sector, the continuing shift from coal to gas and measures to reduce emissions.

The measures have included cuts in nitrous oxide emissions from the chemicals sector in France and the UK, as well as measures from most Member States to reduce methane emissions from waste landfills, notes the EEA. The agency hopes the cuts will be accelerated once the EU trading scheme enters into force in January 2005.

But the EEA adds that the EU still has "a long way to go" if it wants to meet the 2008-2012 Kyoto targets to cut emissions by 8% below the base year level. The EEA points out that only four out of the EU-15 countries are currently on track to meet the targets, mamely France, Germany, Sweden and the UK.

Meanwhile, the Commission President, Romano Prodi, gave a speech on climate change as being "the real threat to global peace" in San Rossore, Italy. Speaking on 15 July, Prodi said the Kyoto Protocol was "just the first step" towards climate sustainability. A step which is "still incomplete owing to a lack of political will" from major emitting countries, he added. "Any solutions must be international in scale, and they need to be based on a new concept of inter-State relations, sovereignty and world governance," Prodi said.