France is unlikely to meet its target of a fourfold reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide by 2050, according to a report by a government-appointed commission, business daily La Tribune reported on Monday. The report into French energy perspectives up to 2050, due to be published this week, will say the best that can be expected is a reduction by 2.1 or 2.4 times, La Tribune said in an article from its Tuesday edition issued ahead of publication.

The report comes shortly before a major meeting of representatives from government, industry, environmental associations, agriculture and the public later this month. "By 2050, given the need for growth, it appears difficult to do better than a factor of two, except by adopting breakthrough technologies which have not been taken into consideration because they appeared relatively improbable," the report says.

Under an energy law of July 2005, France committed to a fourfold reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases over the decades to 2050. The commission recommends import taxes on products which consume large amounts of energy, auctioning carbon dioxide quotas and harmonizing the system at European Union level. Other measures included forcing carmakers to adopt standards limiting carbon dioxide emissions to 120g/km by 2012, increasing petrol tax by three cents a year and by five cents a year for gas-oil and taxing vehicles according to the amount of pollution they produced.

(Reuters, 08/10/2007)