Saving the planet is not an after-dinner drink

French attempts to craft a global warming pact to make the EU a world leader in tackling climate change are gridlocked, with governments unable to agree on how to share the pain and costs of slashing greenhouse gases by 20% within 12 years, writes Ian Traynor in the Guardian.

A European summit tonight in Brussels will fail to agree on the means to the end of meeting the EU's ambitious targets, warned diplomats and officials.

"The targets have been agreed and we have presented them all over the world," said José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission chief. "There will be a real problem of credibility for Europe."

Barroso added: "Saving the planet is not an after-dinner drink, a digestif that you take or leave. Climate change does not disappear because of the financial crisis."

The 27-nation European Union has set ambitious goals to curb carbon dioxide emissions by a fifth by 2020, compared to 1990 levels, partly by making power generators and heavy industry pay for permits to pollute in its emissions trading scheme.

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas told reporters in Warsaw, that "We think this (climate) package is consistent with solving the financial crisis... At the moment, people are focused on the economic crisis, but our package is part of the solution."

Read more in the Guardian.