Recession and hot weather push CO2 emissions down in EU

Greenhouse gases in the European Union have fallen again for the fourth year in a row.

According to figures released on Monday by the European Environment Agency, the EU's own ecological bureau, emissions from the 15 EU member states that signed up to the Kyoto Protocol fell by 1.3 percent in 2008, compared with 2007.

The drop takes emissions down 6.2 percent below 1990 levels - the baseline year. As parties to the protocol, the EU-15 are committed to reducing emissions by eight p...