The EU Council has adopted the legislation allowing the EU to formally ratify the second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol.

With this measure, EU, its Member States and Iceland (by separate agreement - Iceland is not in the EU) commit to jointly achieve a 20% reduction in combined greenhouse gas emissions for 2013-2020 (compared to emissions in 1990, or their chosen base year).

This measure binds the EU member states to act accordingly but is only technically effective on the EU itself: EU Member States (and Iceland) are still working separately on the national ratification process.