A CLIMATIC FIRST STEP

In January, the European Union fired a shot heard round the world in what could evolve into a global battle against climate change. The unexpectedly aggressive energy and climate policy calls for minimum cuts of 20% in CO₂ emissions by 2020 and is the first outline for emission limits that go beyond the Kyoto Protocol's expiration date in 2012. "The package is coherent and ambitious and it integrates climate and energy issues," says Kate Hampton, policy manager with climate-related investment banking group Climate Change Capital in London. "It remains to be seen whether the EU is able to agree on this and achieve it, but if you want to solve the climate-change problem, this is the first step towards doing that."

In stark contrast to the Bush administration, which until recently argued against the need for any new restrictions in the developed world, the EU has proclaimed its readiness to act alone if necessary. The plans will next be debated by the leaders of EU member states at a summit in Germany in March, and the future of the proposals rests on the willingness of those states to keep strictly national interests in check, says Hampton: "If they take an a la carte approach, then their coherence will completely unravel because a lot of proposals are dependent upon each other."