EU ministers stated that they are unlikely to increase their carbon emissions reduction target from 20 percent to 30 percent unless other countries also pledge to do the same. The EU's current goal is to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent from 1990 levels within the next decade. They had previously promised to deepen this reduction to 30 percent if other nations made similar commitments at the Copenhagen climate talks. However, with the United Nations setting a deadline for countries to commit to emissions cuts by January 31, the EU does not believe that major economies will agree to comparable targets in time. Spanish Secretary of State for Climate Change Teresa Ribera expressed doubt that this goal could be achieved during a meeting of EU environment ministers in Seville, Spain. The decision was widely anticipated, as the EU, responsible for approximately 14 percent of global CO2 emissions, aims to take a leading role in climate negotiations despite being marginalized at the previous year's meeting in Copenhagen. Environmentalists had urged the EU to set a more ambitious target to set an example. While not ruling out a 30 percent reduction in emissions in the future, the EU is looking to secure concessions from other countries first. Connie Hedegaard, the nominee for European climate commissioner, expressed hope during a European Parliament hearing that the EU's conditions for moving to a 30 percent reduction would be met before a meeting in Mexico later this year. Before the Copenhagen talks, the United Nations had requested that affluent nations reduce their emissions by 25-40 percent by 2020 in order to limit the average increase in global temperatures to no more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.