EU slips through Kyoto loopholes

With a month left to run until the Copenhagen summit on climate change (COP 15), the European Union is close to achieving the 2012 objectives defined by the Kyoto Protocol, in particular thanks to the efforts of five of the 15 countries that were member states back when the agreement to cut CO2 emissions was signed in 1992, announces De Volkskrant. According to the latest figures from the European Environment Agency (EEA), the average reduction in emissions between 2008 and 2012 for the EU-15 will be 11.5% over the 1990 level, while the objective stipulated by Kyoto was 8%. But, as the Dutch daily explains, the devil is in the details and on closer inspection the figures are less encouraging: in fact, there will only be a 6.9% drop in emissions, and the shortfall will be made up for by accounting mechanisms that include credits for investment in renewable energy projects in other countries (2.2%), the trade in emissions quotas between EU member states (1.4%) and the planting of trees (1.0%).