Don't let crisis push climate off agenda: Barroso

By Paul Taylor, European Affairs Editor

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The head of the European Commission appealed to EU leaders on Tuesday not to sacrifice the fight against climate change to the urgent economic problems thrown up by the global financial crisis.

Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the credit crunch was no reason to go back on ambitious EU plans to combat global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, cutting energy consumption and promoting alternative energy sources.

"This is not a luxury we now have to forego. Saving the planet is not an after-dinner drink, a 'digestif' that you take or leave. Climate change does not disappear because of the financial crisis," Barroso told a news conference.

He was speaking on the eve of a two-day European Union summit whose agenda has been hijacked by measures to overcome the financial crisis, rescue banks and protect savers.

Barroso said the EU should stick to its goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels, saving 20 percent through energy efficiency and deriving 20 percent of power from renewable sources by the same year.

"Of course in a crisis, governments become more defensive," he said, adding that the EU should achieve those goals flexibly.

An Italian official said Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi would call for "a pause of reflection" in EU climate change legislation and a possible postponement of the targets.

In Warsaw, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said building a low-carbon economy was the key to future growth and jobs and would help, not hinder, governments' efforts to overcome the financial crisis.