Air - Prevention and reduction of pollution
The 6th Environment Action Programme indicated that "given the long-term objective, a global GHG reduction in the order of 20 - 40% (depending on actual rates of economic growth and thus greenhouse gas emissions as well as the success of measures taken to combat climate change) over 1990 by 2020 will need to be aimed at, by means of an effective international agreement." In the shorter term, the EU is committed, under the Kyoto Protocol, to achieving an 8% reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases by 2008-2012 compared to 1990 level. The greenhouse gases of concern are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), as well as fluorinated gases. The major driving force behind the increases in emissions of greenhouse gases is the burning of fossil fuels. Other sources of greenhouse gases include methane emissions from cattle, nitrous oxides from agricultural soils, methane emissions from waste in landfills as well as the emission of the fluorinated gases from manufacturing processes. Deforestation and changes in land use are an important contributor to the release of CO2 to the atmosphere. Conversely, it is possible to reduce the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere by geological sequestration and by locking-up carbon in biomass (forests) and soils by changing land use patterns and practices.
