Environmental legislation discussions 'must be faster'

The speed at which environmental legislation discussions take place ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference - which is set to be held later this year - must increase, according to European commissioner for the environment Stavros Dimas.

He made his remarks after the EU reached a number of council conclusions on its position ahead of the session, which is due to take place in Copenhagen between December 7th and 18th.

Among the discussions that took place, there was a forum on how to deal with a potential surplus of assigned amount units from the 2008 - 2012 Kyoto Protocol commitment period.

Mr Dimas described reaching an international agreement as a "formidable political challenge", but stressed that the EU is moving in the right direction ahead of the meeting.

"I am pleased with the progress we have made today, as there is only one negotiating session left before Copenhagen and it is imperative to step up the speed of exchanges at the political level," he concluded.

Posted by Joseph Hutton