Mandelson wants free trade in 'green' goods

As the global-warming issue heats up, EU policymakers are under increasing pressure to produce measures that can solve the climate-change problem without placing an excessive burden on the businesses that drive Europe's economy. The EU's Kyoto commitment to cut its CO2 emissions by 8% compared with 1990 levels before 2012 � notably through the establishment of a carbon emissions-trading scheme � has been strongly criticised by European businesses, which are now obliged to clean up their act or pay high prices for the right to emit greenhouse gases. And because many countries � including the United States and China, the world's two largest polluters � have not committed to the Kyoto Protocol, the EU is accused of putting European industry at a competitive disadvantage with those that continue to pollute freely. Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has called for a 0%-tariff deal on environmentally friendly technologies as part of the Doha Round, saying that such an agreement could help provide a global solution to climate change.