EU agrees renewables targets

EU leaders have agreed a set of tough new targets aimed at tackling climate change at the spring summit in Brussels.

Under the helm of German chancellor Angela Merkel, they overcame divisions to agree on a target ensuring that by 2020, 20 per cent of Europe's energy will be produced from renewable sources.

The deal comes in exchange for flexibility on each country’s contribution, following pressure from countries including nuclear-based France and coal-rich Poland.

EU governments also agreed on Thursday to reduce EU greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2020 - and said they will raise this to 30 per cent if major nations like the US, Russia and China follow suit.

The successful summit is a victory for Merkel, who is under the political spotlight as the chair of both the EU presidency and the G8 group.

“Europe can now take up its proper vanguard role on climate change,” Merkel said after the meeting, adding that the deal has made the EU “fully credible” on the environmental front.

European commission president José Manuel Barroso chimed in, calling the agreement “the most ambitious package ever agreed by any commission or any group of countries on energy security and climate protection”.

The deal was immediately applauded by green MEPs and environmental organisations, with Greenpeace calling it “the biggest such decision since the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol”.

"Despite the efforts of the nuclear lobby, through its outgoing proxy [Jacques] Chirac, the EU has made clear that nuclear is not part of the solution to climate change,” said German Green MEP Rebecca Harms in a reference to France’s initial opposition to the renewables deal.

The onus is now on the next G8 summit in June, where Merkel will try to convince other industrialised countries to come on board with 30 per cent cuts in CO2.

“Chancellor Merkel must use her presidency of the G8 to ensure that other developed countries are brought on board, so the EU can revise its emissions target upwards as soon as possible,” said Green MEP Claude Turmes.

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