The EUClimate Commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, said climatepolicies would cut local pollution, reduce dependency on fossil fuel imports, improve resource efficiency, save money on energy and even make people fitter if they left their cars at home and cycled to work.
She said awareness of climate change varied widely throughout the EU. One of her officials admitted that the UK was suffering from something of a media backlash against climatepolicies because previously there had been media "overkill" on climate.