In an open letter addressed to Swedish Prime Minister Frederik Reinfeldt, Business Europe said that the offers on the table from other powers at the climate conference in Copenhagen were not strong enough to warrant the bloc increasing its commitment to cut emissions from 20 to 30 percent.

"The EU must not increase in any way its current unilateral 20 percent carbon reduction requirement," the group said in the letter issued on Tuesday.

The EU has repeatedly stated that it will increase its reduction target to if an ambitious international deal is agreed at Copenhagen.

Climate conditions

In its letter, Business Europe outlined the conditions it says would have to be met in order for a global agreement on climate change to be considered successful. They include legally binding and equally strong emission reduction targets for all developed countries, a plan to introduce binding emission targets for developing countries by 2020, and a strong and transparent universal regime for monitoring, reporting and verification.

In particular, the lobby group pointed to the offer from the United States as one that was insufficiently ambitious.

"The US Congress proposal to reduce US emissions by 17 percent by 2020 compared to their 2005 levels only represents a 3 percent reduction from 1990 green gas emissions. Therefore, it cannot be considered an 'equivalent' effort justifying an EU move to a 30 percent reduction," the letter said.

Other alliances critical of Business Europe

The European business community is divided in its response to the Copenhagen talks. On the same day that Business Europe released its open letter, other businesses committed to fighting climate change criticized the group for its position.

In a joint response to the letter, three corporate green alliances - the Prince of Wales' EU Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change, the Climate Group and WWF's Climate Savers - distanced themselves from the Business Europe stance.

"The positions taken by many traditional trade associations, including Business Europe, do not necessarily reflect a consensus in the business community," the statement said. "The EU should raise its unilateral emissions reduction target to 30 percent, showing real leadership ahead of the Copenhagen summit."

The alliances added that such a move would likely boost confidence in the international carbon market and encourage investment to create change in the energy, industry and transport sectors.

"There's very little doubt in my mind that the EU will move to 30 percent," Craig Bennett, co-director of the Corporate Leaders Group told the BusinessGreen website. "I'd expect the EU Council meeting later this week to tell negotiators at Copenhagen that they can agree to a 30 percent target if a handful of conditions are met."

Author: Deanne Corbett
Editor: Sam Edmonds