Earth Equity News

Germany Sticks to 40% Emission-Reduction Goal Notwithstanding Copenhagen Fiasco. By Erik Kirschbaum, Reuters, January 11, 2010. "Germany will stick to a more ambitious goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2020 even though the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen fell short of expectations, a government adviser said on Monday. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, head of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said it was unclear if the European Union as a whole would pursue a 30% target when it submits its plan to the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat by January 31. Germany had hoped that its offer to raise its 2020 target from 30 to 40%, combined with an EU offer to raise its goal from 20 to 30% if other nations pledged substantial cuts, would spur a deal on worldwide reductions in Copenhagen. The Copenhagen Accord set a goal of limiting global warming to a maximum 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial times. But it failed to say how this would be achieved. 'Germany has a firm target that the government has even spelled out in its coalition agreement to cut its emissions by 40%,' Schellnhuber told a news conference... Germany is the world's sixth largest emitter. Some industry groups have urged Berlin to drop ambitious emissions targets, saying they could jeopardize jobs. Germany has created hundreds of thousands of green tech jobs in the last decade."