EU 'condemns Kyoto Protocol to death'

European Union leaders have let down the Kyoto Protocol agreement to reduce climate change, according to a Christian charity.

Christian Aid's senior adviser on climate change Dr Alison Doig has suggested that if European leaders decided not to renew the pact, they will "condemn the Kyoto Protocol to death".

She said: "European Union leaders claim they still support the only existing climate deal that has legal teeth - the Kyoto Protocol - but their actions tell a different story."

Her comments follow last week's climate talks in Bonn, which discussed the future of the environmental pact.

Talks revealed that some countries wanted to abandon the agreement for the Copenhagen Accord, which would only require countries to make carbon emissions cuts that suited their political measures.

Dr Doig added that this would not have as much effect on reducing climate change as the Kyoto Protocol, as the Copenhagen Accord does not involve an assessment over whether the carbon reductions are significant enough.

The Kyoto pact binds its members to reduce their 1990 carbon emission levels by an average of five per cent from 2008 to 2012.

Posted by Joseph Hutton