(Adds reaction, background) By Pete Harrison BRUSSELS, Jan 21 (Reuters) - The European Union will call next week for airlines and shipping to be included in a planned successor to the Kyoto pact, together with major worldwide investment to tackle climate change, a draft document shows. The document lays out the European Commission's stance as it prepares for international talks in December in Copenhagen on a successor to the Kyoto protocol, the UN's main tool against global warming which runs out in 2012. Global investments to curb emissions need to increase gradually to around 175 billion euros ($226 billion) per year in 2020, said the draft document, seen by Reuters on Wednesday. The EU plans to spell out its climate vision next week amid optimism U.S. President Barack Obama will add fresh momentum to talks after having already pledged emissions cuts at home. His predecessor George W. Bush angered environmentalists by deciding against adopting the Kyoto pact in 2001, hampering the quest for a global deal. The EU called for a solution to the controversial issue of emissions from ships and planes, after years of disagreement over who should take responsibility. The UN says shipping contributes about 3 percent of global CO2 emissions. "Emissions from international aviation and maritime transport should be included in the overall targets set in the Copenhagen agreement and included in the national totals of the country of departure (or arrival)," said the draft. SUPPORT The European Union agreed last year to make aviation pay for permits to pollute under its flagship emissions trading scheme, but airlines complained about the costs and said it handed the competitive advantage to rivals in less regulated regions. "We strongly support aviation's inclusion in a global agreement, but until we see the details we can't comment further," said a British Airways <BAY.L> spokesman. The draft said the United Nations climate change agency should set targets for reducing shipping and aviation's climate impact below 2005 levels, with reductions to far below 1990 levels by 2050. The EU has already prepared unilateral action to tackle shipping emissions in case its push for a global deal fails. The International Chamber of Shipping said it supported measures to deal with shipping's emissions, but said governments would be unwise to commit to absolute targets. "The amount of shipping required is simply a function of trade," said a spokesman. "If the world population and economy continue to expand, shipping will need to expand too." The document called for other countries to match the EU's plan for cutting carbon dioxide to avert climate change and the droughts, floods and rising sea levels it is expected to bring. "The EU has set the example by committing to a 30 percent reduction in emissions compared to 1990 levels by 2020, in the context of an international agreement," the draft said. "The EU has also proposed that developed countries as a group should reduce their emissions by the same amount." All OECD countries and present and future EU member states should commit to reductions, it added. That would create tough new demands on EU membership hopefuls such as Turkey. It also laid out plans for expanding the EU's carbon market to link with others around the globe. "The EU should seek to build by 2015 a robust OECD-wide carbon market through the linking of comparable cap and trade systems," it said. (Additional reporting by Stefano Ambrogi in London; Editing by Mark John and Dale Hudson)
Activists demonstrate in front of the Energy Ministry building in Ankara January 19, 2009. A group of activists are protesting against the Turkish government's plans to build a nuclear power station ...
