Emissions to be cut by 80 percent by 2050

By Nina Chestney

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will adopt a more severe target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, increasing this to 80 percent from 60 percent, newly installed Energy and Climate Minister Ed Miliband said Thursday.

The move came against the grain of intense industry lobbying to dilute an ambitious European Union climate change program, including tough carbon caps, at a meeting of EU leaders on Thursday.

Business lobby groups argue that cutting carbon emissions will add to fuel bills, but Miliband said the costs of not fighting climate change were greater, and would detail next year how Britain would embark on meeting the goal.

"In tough economic times, some people will ask whether we should retreat from our climate change objectives," he told Parliament.

"In our view, it would be quite wrong to row (pull) back."

EU leaders Thursday reaffirmed a December deadline to agree EU-wide energy and climate proposals, and stick to a target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by a fifth by 2020, at a summit overshadowed by the threat of a punishing recession.

But the leaders handed concessions to some heavy industry and coal-dependent former communist countries.

Recruited to the newly-created energy and climate change ministry two weeks ago, Miliband said the government would make the new UK target binding by amending its Climate Change Bill, going through Parliament, and won approval from green groups.