European Commissioner for Climate Action

The Commissioner for Climate Action is a new post in the European Commission. It was created in 2010, being split from the environmental portfolio to focus on fighting climate change. The current Commissioner is Miguel Arias Cañete.

The European Union has made a number of moves in regard to climate change. Most notably it signed the Kyoto Protocol in 1998, set up its Emission Trading Scheme in 2005 and is currently agreeing to unilaterally cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020.