EU may miss pollution targets

The European Environment Agency says the European Union will likely miss its greenhouse gas targets by a wide margin.

The EEA said the 15 longest-standing members of the EU are likely to cut emissions to 2.5 percent below 1990 levels, far short of their target 8 percent cut, the BBC reported Tuesday.

Officials blamed transport sector growth and increased air travel for countering emission reductions reported in other areas.

The European Union, a signatory of the Kyoto Protocols, says it is committed to substantial cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

But the BBC said the EU's actual performance is poor according to the report on Europe's environmental health. That report indicates EU emissions have been rising annually since the year 2000.

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