Two years into the Kyoto Protocol, some Europeans are wondering if it goes far enough. Kyoto calls for a 20% reduction in carbon emissions by the year 2020, or "20 by 20". If the EU meets Kyoto minimums, it will fulfill legally binding reduction targets set out in the intergovernmental agreement. Is this an arbitrary number or an accurately calculated representation of what most developed countries can achieve?

20 February 2007 may be the tipping point that will reveal the EU's true intentions on fighting global warming. It is the day when European environment ministers meet to discuss emission reduction targets. Environmentalists believe that the EU should go further. Could the EU lead the charge in the fight on global warming and set the bar for the rest of the world? Some feel that the EU should increase its targets to 30% by 2020.

These views are not only those of environmentalists, but some economists as well. The war on global warming is birthing new global markets that seem to be rendering billions of pounds in revenue. For example, the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU-ETS), with the UK and Spain already taking lead roles, is said to be worth over 7.6bn euros (5.1bn GBP) in 2005.

Whether your poison is environmental altruism or personal profit, there are several arguments to say that setting emission reduction targets higher than other continents can only bring positive results.

Conversely, there are those who feel that setting reduction targets higher than 20% is a fool's errand and needs to be curtailed in order to sustain current levels of global trade, industry and employment. More so, too much change too quickly can only adversely affect environmental and economic equilibriums.

Whichever side of the fence you may sit upon, there is no way to avoid recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which makes it clear that urgent action is a must to halt and reduce carbon emissions. Proponents of increasing the EU's target say they are not claiming that the EU has the power to make or break global warming, but only that a continent of 27 countries and 490 million people can make a pretty serious global statement. The EU countries emitted over 6,000 million tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2004. Is it unreasonable to assume that more that 20% of this can be reduced by 2020? Perhaps only time will tell.