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Barroso: EU climate change mettle unrivaled

Package builds on 2020 goals for a low-carbon economy.

By Daniel J. Graeber

BRUSSELS, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- A package of goals for addressing climate change shows the ambition among European member states is unrivaled, the European commission president said Friday.

Members of the European Union agreed early Friday to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent, increase the renewable energy footprint by 27 percent and enhance energy efficiency by 27 percent from a 1990 benchmark by 2040.

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"No player in the world is as ambitious as the European Union when it comes to cutting greenhouse gas emissions," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a statement.

European member states account for about 11 percent of the global emissions. The agreement reached early Friday builds on a package of 20 percent targets for the three measures by 2020.

Some member states had balked on protection for certain sectors of the energy industry, arguing economic interests in a struggling eurozone should be considered.

''The EU climate action commissioner is very proud that the 28 EU leaders, despite economic uncertainty and other severe international crises, were able to get their act together on this pressing climate challenge," European Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said in a statement.

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Barroso said the 2030 agreement puts Europe "firmly in the driving seat" ahead of an international climate summit scheduled next year in Paris.

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