Environmentalists lament EU's 'melting' climate leadership

Greenpeace activists placed five large chunks of ice in front of the venue where EU environment ministers discussed global warming Thursday to denounce the bloc's "melting" leadership on climate change.

"Europe's climate leadership melting away," said leaflets distributed to passers-by in the Belgian capital Brussels.

European Union nations agreed last year to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent by 2020 compared to 1990 levels, while slashing energy consumption and increasing the use of renewable sources.

Since then, many of the 27 member countries have sought to protect their own industries and economies, particularly those more dependent on power derived from coal.

But the ministers want to clinch a deal on achieving those goals this month, in order to take a united position to international climate talks in Copenhagen next year.

The Greenpeace protest, however, was undone by the weather, which included some light snowfalls in Brussels Thursday, and the ice blocks did not melt.

"We had some bad luck," one activist said. "We wanted it to melt but the weather let us down."