BP sets 2010 emissions target

BRITISH PETROLEUM has set itself a target of cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by 10 per cent from 1990 levels by 2010. The targets were to be announced today at Yale School of Management in the US by the BP chairman, Sir John Browne (left).

The reduction will be achieved by cutting carbon dioxide emissions through use of new technology, energy efficiency and elimination of flaring from oil and gas fields. BP is also launching a system of trading in pollution permits across the group, initially involving 12 of its 90 units. The company, which is merging with Amoco of the US, has already pulled out of the Global Climate Change Coalition, a US-dominated lobby group set up to campaign against the environmental targets agreed at last year's Kyoto summit.