Ministers stated on Saturday that the European Union is not likely to increase its commitment to reducing carbon emissions by 30 percent from 20 percent unless other countries demonstrate a greater willingness to do the same. The EU has a target of cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) by 20 percent from 1990 levels over the next decade. Prior to climate talks in Copenhagen in December, the EU pledged to deepen those cuts to 30 percent if other countries also agreed to do so. The United Nations has set a deadline of Jan. 31 for countries to commit to emissions cuts, but the EU does not see any indication that major economies will establish comparable targets by that time. Spanish Secretary of State for Climate Change Teresa Ribera stated to journalists after a meeting of EU environment ministers in Seville, Spain, that it is unlikely that the 30 percent commitment will be achieved. The decision was widely anticipated and the EU, responsible for 14 percent of global CO2 emissions, is eager to take the lead in climate talks following its marginalization at the previous year's meeting in Copenhagen. Environmentalists had urged the EU to set a more ambitious target to set an example. The possibility of a 30 percent cut in emissions is not off the table, pending concessions from other countries. The nominee for European climate commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, expressed hope that the EU's conditions for increasing the target would be met before the upcoming meeting in Mexico. Before the Copenhagen talks, the United Nations had requested that affluent countries decrease their emissions by 25-40 percent by 2020 in order to limit the average increase in global temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.