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EU might cut greenhouse gases beyond 30 pct
BALI, Indonesia (Reuters) - The European Union might be willing to cut greenhouse gas emissions deeper than 30 percent by 2020 if other rich nations join a broad fight against global warming, EU Commissioner Stavros Dimas said on Tuesday.
The EU has agreed that it will unilaterally cut emissions by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and will cut by up to 30 percent if other nations join in.
"The EU set a target of 30 percent provided that other developed countries come along -- or even more than 30 percent if it is necessary," Dimas told a news conference in reply to a question during an U.N. December 3-14 climate conference in Bali.
The Bali meeting is seeking to decide conditions for launching two years of talks on a new U.N. treaty to succeed the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol, which binds 36 nations to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12.
Dimas said that it was "crucial" for the Bali talks to refer to scientific evidence by the U.N.'s climate panel this year that rich nations need to cut emissions by between 25 and 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.
The United States, which is outside Kyoto, opposes any mention of the figures in the preamble to a Bali text setting out the guidelines for negotiations meant to conclude with agreement on a new climate treaty in 2009.
"Science tells us that these reductions are necessary to have an effective fight against climate change," he said.
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