EU says on track for Kyoto if more measures taken

The 15 European Union countries that committed to collectively cut greenhouse gas emissions by eight percent in 2008-2012 are on track to reach that goal provided they implement extra measures, the EU executive said.

The European Commission said EU-15 emissions were projected to be down 7.4 percent in 2010 compared to base years - usually 1990 - set in the Kyoto Protocol on combating climate change.

Those projections, collected from EU governments, were based on current measures, the purchase of Kyoto credits, and plans to create "carbon sinks" through forests that soak up carbon dioxide, the main gas blamed for global warming.

The EU-15 would reach an 11.4 percent reduction in 2010 - further than the Kyoto goal - if additional measures such as including aviation in the bloc's emissions trading scheme are put in place quickly. "The latest projections show that the Kyoto target will be reached once the member states have adopted and implemented the additional actions now under discussion," Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said in a statement. "I therefore urge them to do this swiftly."