Europe’s targets for cutting Greenhouse Gas emissions should be drastically toughened, 3 of the EU’s most powerful member states said Wednesday.

Ministers from Germany, France and the UK come together for the 1st time to call for the EU to slash emissions by 30% by Y 2020, instead of the current 20% target.

They say moving to the higher target unilaterally would not be difficult and would prevent Europe from lagging behind in the global race for Green Technology.

“If we stick to a 20% cut, Europe is likely to lose the race to compete in a low-carbon world to countries such as China, Japan or the US, all of which are looking to create a more attractive environment for low-carbon investment,” the ministers said.

Research data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance this week showed China had leapt ahead in Green Technology investment, attracting US$40.3B of asset finance for clean energy in the past year, compared with US$29.3B in Europe.

But the move by the 3 countries has reopened a debate most businesses regarded as settled. In May, the European Commission reported a 30% reduction would be €22B a year cheaper than thought because the recession had trimmed emissions. But an outcry from businesses forced a concession that raising the target would have to wait “until the time was right”.

Wednesday’s action marks a U turn for Germany, which has long opposed a unilateral move to 30%, favoring the EU’s previous pledge to raise its target only if other countries showed similar ambitions, which they did not at last year’s Copenhagen climate summit. France also had strong reservations, but the UK’s Liberal Democrat party scored a coup when the ruling coalition of which they are a part backed the change.

Influential European business groups oppose the higher target. “We believe a unilateral move by the EU could disadvantage manufacturers by subjecting them to higher costs than their international competitors,” said Neil Bentley, director, business environment, at the UK’s CBI employers’ organization.

Gordon Moffat, director-general of Eurofer, the European SteelMakers’ association, said: “It would be absurd to take the economic downturn as justification for more ambitious climate change targets.”

But some businesses, including those with interests in Green Technology, support the tougher target. Joan MacNaughton, senior vice-president of policy at Alstom, the engineering group, said: “A 30% target could really help to incentivize the low-carbon investment that Europe needs.” —Paul A. Ebeling, Jnr. www.livetradingnews.com

Posted by Shayne Heffernan on Jul 14th, 2010and filed underEquities, Europe, Latest News, Markets, News & Events.You can follow any responses to this entry through theRSS 2.0You can leave a response by filling following comment form or trackback to this entry from your site