EU climate pact seen aiding shift from Russia gas

Creation of green jobs and a drive to cut reliance on Russian gas should help convince the EU to agree a climate deal this year despite fears of a world economic slowdown, Denmark's Climate and Energy Minister said.

Connie Hedegaard said approval by EU leaders of a package of measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020 would brighten prospects for a UN climate deal meant to be agreed in Copenhagen at the end of next year.

"I'm sure a compromise will be found" to enable EU leaders to agree the package next month, she said. "It may not be very beautiful, but I'm confident."

EU leaders aim to agree the measures, which include getting 20 per cent of power from renewable energy by 2020, even though nations such as Poland and Italy worry about the costs of shifting from fossil fuels and possible job losses.

Ms Hedegaard said failure would mean Europe could get left behind in a global shift to new jobs, for instance in renewable energies such as solar or wind power.

More and more governments realise that "it's very bad for the whole of Europe if we protect the industries of yesterday instead of preparing the responses that will make us rich tomorrow," she said.

And she said East European nations would benefit from energy efficiency, cuts in use of fossil fuels that emit heat-trapping gases when burned, and a diversification of supplies. "Many European countries have a strategic priority to be less dependent on gas from Russia ... that has a high priority for Eastern European countries which are among the most sceptical looking at this package," she said.

She predicted that nations would soon return to address global warming after the shock of financial turmoil. The UN Climate Panel warns that climate change could bring more droughts, heatwaves, spread disease and raise ocean levels.

She said that the Czech Republic, which will take on the rotating EU presidency from France in January, had signalled no interest in inheriting such a complex package unfinished. She also said it was a "million dollar question" whether the next US administration would be ready to promise clear targets for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions at the Copenhagen talks.

More than 190 nations agreed last year to agree on a broad new international accord in Copenhagen to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which binds just 37 developed nations to cut emissions by five per cent below 1990 levels by 2008-12.