The European Union cut greenhouse gas emissions by four per cent in the 1990s but further major efforts are needed to reach the objectives of the Kyoto accord, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said in a report published today.
The four per cent reduction in emissions between 1990 and 1999 put the EU halfway toward the target set by the Kyoto Protocol.
The accord, signed by 38 industrialized countries, calls for an eight per cent reduction in emissions from 2008 to 2012 compared to 1990 levels.
The EEA study notes that the EU result was in part achieved due to a two per cent reduction in 1999, despite economic growth that year of 2.5 per cent.
It said the reduction compares to an 11 per cent increase of gas emissions during the same period in the United States, which accounts for 40 per cent of emissions in industrialized countries, compared to 24 per cent for the EU.
US President George W Bush recently announced Washington is not bound by emission targets for carbon dioxide (CO2), the major greenhouse gas, proposed under the Kyoto treaty, provoking a chorus of international criticism.
The EU is also on track to fulfill its commitment to stabilize its CO2 emissions, the EEA report said.
"Despite these positive trends, the EEA ... warns that further major efforts to reduce emissions are needed to achieve the Kyoto targets."
It said the positive results in the EU are largely due to major cuts in emissions by Germany (18.70 per cent) and Britain (14 per cent). The two nations together account for 40 per cent of emissions in the EU.
These cuts are largely due to a switch from coal to gas as a source of energy, and to the closure of factories in the former East Germany since German reunification.
"However, this situation could rapidly change," the EEA warned.It said the latest information showed a two per cent increase of CO2 emissions in Britain in 2000, and a 0.2 per cent rise linked to energy consumption in Germany.
AFP