Malta should emulate Scotland's example to reduce greenhouse gases by 42 per cent by 2020 - the most ambitious statutory target in the world, an environmental group has urged.

Friends of the Earth said the emission cuts required by law in Scotland were the first in the world to be in line with the requirements called for by science.

The EU should follow Scotland's lead and set equally ambitious targets to help get the international climate negotiations on the right path, the NGO said in a statement.

In Malta and in 16 other European countries, Friends of the Earth called on governments to commit to annual cuts in climate changing emissions as part of the European "Big Ask".

FoE's Europe-wide climate campaign aims to get governments and the EU to commit to legally binding annual cuts in emissions to fight climate change. The Big Ask calls on the EU to commit to at least 40 per cent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions within Europe by 2020, and 100 per cent by 2050.