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September 2, 2009

EU Pushes U.S. for Deeper Cuts in Carbon Emissions

The European Union is urging U.S. lawmakers to make deep cuts in carbon emissions, as the U.S. Senate drafts a new climate bill, reports the Taragana blog. The UK is also kicking off a new effort to involve businesses and the public to cut emissions by 10 percent.

Sweden’s Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren said in the article that the European Union, the United States and other developed countries, should cut emissions by 80 percent by 2050, from 1990 levels. Carlgren is leading the EU team at U.N. negotiations to reach a new global climate change accord in December.

Carlgren also said in the article that rich countries should offer financial aid to help poorer and undeveloped countries adopt more environmentally friendly economic plans. EU nations are pushing for an agreement by October on how much they will offer as part of their share to fund poor countries, according to Taragana.

The cost won’t be cheap. A new report, which estimates the costs of adaptation made by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2007, finds that the total global funding needed for adaptation by 2030 would amount to $49 billion to $171 billion annually. The study, Assessing the Costs of Adaptation to Climate Change, also indicates that the largest cost is for infrastructure investment.

At the same time, the UK is starting a new campaign to cut the country’s carbon emissions by 10 percent, reports the Telegraph. The campaign also calls on all rich countries to make significant cuts in carbon, according to the newspaper.

Organizers of the 10:10 campaign are asking everyone to cut carbon emissions by making a few simple lifestyle changes in order to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to the article.

Fanny Armstrong, founder of 10:10, told the Telegraph if all 61 million people in the UK reduced their emissions by 10 percent the savings would be approximately 85 million tons of CO2.

Supporters include large organizations such as Tottenham Hotspur, the NHS Trusts and the Women’s Institute, and celebrities including Colin Firth, Delia Smith, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, Ian McEwan and Zac Goldsmith, reports the Telegraph.

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