European efforts to improve atmospheric pollution have produced mixed results. According to the latest data released by the European Commission, greenhouse gas emissions are in fact slightly increasing, thus making necessary a further effort on the part of member states to implement the measures aimed at counteracting world climate change as defined in the Kyoto Protocol. One positive result, however, is the “breaking of the link between economic growth and greenhouse gas emission”, explained European Commissioner for the Environment, Stavros Dimas. The forthcoming distribution at the national level of greenhouse gas emission quotas for the period 2008-2012 should be, said Dimas, an occasion to accelerate the application of the Protocol and the European Programme for climate change, especially on the part of heavy industry, transport and refineries.
