Moscow, Nov 28 (IANS/TASS): The upcoming UN climate talks in the Peruvian capital Lima would be significant in terms of reaching an agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol, the European Union (EU) leadership feels.

In an article published Friday in Russia's Kommersant newspaper, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Canete have reminded that in October, a goal was agreed upon to cut greenhouse gases by 40 percent by 2030.

The decision gave a new impetus to international negotiations on climate change and the US and China pledged earlier this month to take an ambitious action plan to limit greenhouse gases.

The 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), opening Dec 1 in Lima, would focus on a new international agreement on cutting global emissions of greenhouse gases.

The EU officials believe that the Lima summit would create opportunities to influence other countries, particularly the G20 countries, to unveil their climate goals in the near future.

“The sooner they do this, the more time we would have to assess whether these commitments as a whole (would) enable us to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius,” the article noted.

The Kyoto Protocol, signed in 1997, is an international agreement linked to the UNFCCC. The major feature of the protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialised countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.