European Parliament aims to become 'carbon neutral'

The European Parliament will be aiming to become the first "carbon-neutral" Parliament in the world in order to set an example of how institutions should contribute towards cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

After a meeting with the chairman and the political group co-ordinators of the Parliament's Environment Committee, EP president Hans Gert Poettering announced that Parliament has already drawn up an action plan which will soon be presented to the chamber's bureau for a decision.

The first step would be to engage independent experts to scientifically establish the full extent of the Parliament's CO2 emissions or its carbon footprint.

Mr Poettering's initiative is a reaction to severe criticism.

In a damning report published by the Green Group last month, it was said that the Parliament's seat in Strasbourg was responsible for huge CO2 emissions.

The shuttling of officials between the EU seat in Brussels and Strasbourg four days every month, the report said, was responsible for emission levels of 20,000 tonnes a year, equivalent to 13,000 air-return journeys between London and New York.

The EP has already reacted to this criticism by establishing an ad hoc climate change parliamentary committee tasked to come up with proposals on general climate change issues by year end. Maltese MEP David Casa is a member of this committee.