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EU may have to adjust CO2 target if UK leaves bloc-UN climate chief

by Reuters
Tuesday, 28 June 2016 13:08 GMT

Protesters dance in costume outside the Houses of Parliament, during a march calling for government action on climate change, in central London, Britain, in this March 7, 2015 file photo. REUTERS/Neil Hall

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As a member of the EU, Britain contributes to the bloc's overall commitment to reduce carbon emissions

LONDON, June 28 (Reuters) - The European Union (EU) may have to reassess its carbon emissions reduction target for 2030 if Britain leaves the bloc, the United Nations' climate chief Christiana Figueres said on Tuesday.

As a member of the EU, Britain contributes to the bloc's overall commitment to reduce carbon emissions as part of a global climate pact but if it decides to withdraw from it, the EU might have to adjust its target.

"It would perhaps mean that the EU would have to take a look at the target that it has put into its INDC (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions) and maybe make some adjustments to that," said Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), at the Business and Climate summit in London.

Signatories to the global climate agreement reached in Paris in December have submitted Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) through which they outline ways in which they intend to meet decarbonisation targets.

Under the agreement, the EU has agreed to cut emissions by at least 40 percent by 2030 from 1990 levels and has to decide how to divide that up between member states.

(Reporting by Karolin Schaps; editing by Nina Chestney and Louise Heavens)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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