Environmental legislation news: Copenhagen 'must result in comprehensive agreement'

The Copenhagen Climate Change Conference must end with a comprehensive, global agreement on tackling global warming, the European Commission (EC) has said.

President Jose Manuel Barroso stressed that world leaders need to take "bold decisions" if the dangerous levels of climate change predicted by scientists are to be avoided.

He described the UN summit as "an historic opportunity to draw the roadmap to a global low-carbon society" and added that environmentally-friendly industries could strengthen economies and create a new swathe of "green-collar jobs".

The EC stated that any agreement needs to settle the key political differences if a working treaty is to be established by 2013 to succeed the Kyoto Protocol.

US president Barack Obama boosted hopes of reaching an agreement last week when he announced that he would personally attend the conference alongside more than 90 other world leaders.

Throughout negotiations, the EU will be pushing for the creation of a legally-binding treaty that is based on science but sets ambitious yet fair targets on carbon emissions reduction, among other things.

Posted by Lauren Steadman