EU needs change of approach to be green leader

Thinking of its "sidelined" position at the Copenhagen climate talks five years ago, Brussels sought to steal a march on other global players in late October by announcing the toughest climate change target of any region in the world.

The target to cut 40 percent of carbon emissions by 2030 compared with 1990 levels, together with other goals of energy efficiency and renewable alternatives, came as the international community has been trying to drum up efforts to reach a new agreement to control the Earth's carbon emissions at the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change due to take place in Paris at the end of next year.

The UN approving the collective assessment of climate change by global scientists in Copenhagen on Sunday, the upcoming two-week negotiations in Lima, Peru, in December and other "price-comparing" sessions among global emitters are all aimed at helping to reach a deal, although, it is still hard to predict how ambitious it might be.