European environment ministers agreed on a proposal on Wednesday to curb global emissions from planes and ships by 10 percent and 20 percent over the next decade in the fight against climate change.
European environment ministers agreed on a proposal on Wednesday to curb global emissions from planes and ships by 10 percent and 20 percent over the next decade in the fight against climate change.
Ministers also agreed on a long-term goal of cutting EU emissions by 80-95 percent, one day after an east-west rift over how to finance emissions curbs knocked the EU's leadership ambitions off course.
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The proposal will be presented to other countries at talks in Copenhagen in December aimed at forging a replacement to the Kyoto Protocol, the United Nations' main tool against climate change.
"We have from the environment council a complete negotiating mandate for Copenhagen, except for the finance," German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said.
Shipping and aviation are not covered by Kyoto, which runs out in 2012, but the 27-country European Union wants the two sectors dealt with in any replacement deal hammered out in Copenhagen.
The two sectors together generate about 5 percent of global CO2, but that figure is rising fast.
Charging the two sectors for permits to emit carbon could also generate funds to help developing nations tackle climate change.
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