EU presses on with climate rules amid doubts over Trump's aims

Brussels

AS US President-elect Donald Trump pledges to bolster industries blamed for global warming, the European Union (EU) is forging ahead with legislation meant to increase the cost of the dirtiest forms of energy.

Environment ministers from the EU were scheduled to meet in Brussels on Monday for deliberations over tighter emission caps on power plants and factories, aiming to make good on a vow to slash greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide by 40 per cent in 2030 compared with 1990 levels. The stricter rules to the EU's cap-and-trade system would kick in from 2021.

Global leaders are racing to head off temperatures that the United Nations sees rising as much as 3.4 degrees Celsius by 2100, which risks flooding coastal cities such as New York and Los Angeles and triggering mass migrations. While differences exist in Europe over the precise policy mix, most EU decision-makers espouse the vie…