The EU proposals set out a number of key points that it says must be agreed if it is to meet its goal of reducing global emissions to 50% of 1990 levels by 2050, and limiting global warming to less than 2°C above pre-industrial temperatures.

The EU says the world should seek to build, by 2015, a robust carbon market across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) through the linking of the EU emissions trading system with comparable domestic cap-and-trade systems in the US, Australia and other developed nations.

“With global warming accelerating, this is almost certainly now our last chance to bring climate under control before it passes the point of no return,” says EU climate change commissioner Stavros Dimas.

He says there are positive signs that a deal can be reached, including President Barack Obama’s “enormously encouraging” commitment to re-engage the US in the struggle against climate change, and positive initiatives from emerging economies like China, Brazil and Mexico.

The EU wants developed countries to cut their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 30% below 1990 levels by 2020, using criteria to ensure national emissions targets are comparable.

Developing countries should limit growth in GHG emissions to 15–30% below business-as-usual levels by 2020. With the exception of the very poorest countries, they should put forward national low-carbon development strategies covering action in all the key emitting sectors by the end of 2011.

Emissions from international aviation and shipping, which are not covered by the Kyoto Protocol, should be included in the overall target of the agreement to be signed in Copenhagen.

The EU says a major boost to research, development and demonstration of low-carbon technologies is needed. Net additional investment to reduce emissions will need to rise to about €175bn per year by 2020, with more than half of this being spent in developing countries.

Ed Miliband, the UK’s energy and climate change secretary, called the EU paper “a sound basis for discussion”. He says Europe needs to “raise the game” and take a lead in achieving a deal in Copenhagen.

The WWF, the environmental group formerly known as the World Wildlife Fund, were unimpressed, saying the proposals contained “some rhetoric in the right direction” but that the EU needs to adopt more concrete commitments and take a larger role in helping developing countries reduce their emissions and adapt to climate change.

“Europe needs to stop anticipating what the rest of the world might do and concentrate on what it should do if it wants to reclaim the reputation of leading the fight against climate change,” says Kim Carstensen, of WWF’s New Global Deal.