For the first time ever, a European Commissioner for the Environment traveled to Boston to discuss environmental issues, speaking at the Harvard Kennedy School in the afternoon after meeting with Democratic State Senator Mark R. Pacheco.

Stavros Dimas’ talk at the Kennedy School focused on the European Union’s proactive commitment to tackling climate change—the body’s “number one priority”—and entreated the United States to follow suit.

“There is a domestic part and an international part to our [environmental] legislation,” Dimas said. “The domestic part is giving us the moral argument to ask other countries—not only developing countries but also countries like the U.S.—to come along and participate in fighting climate change.”

Dimas touted several recent pieces of legislation as evidence of Europe’s leadership role in environmental issues, including the 2005 implementation of the European Union Emission Trading Scheme, the world’s largest emissions trading system.

Dimas pointed out that the United States lags far behind in respect to environmental legislation. He said that the Lieberman-Warner bill, which would have implemented a carbon cap and trade emissions scheme much in the same vein as that of the EU but was voted down in the Senate this summer, would have been a “very important effort.”

Dimas also discussed a self-imposed target for the EU to reduce emissions by 20 percent and produce 20 percent of energy from renewable sources by 2020.

Dimas said he viewed this ambitious legislation as a stepping stone rather than as a final solution, and if other countries follow suit, the EU will up its goal.

“That is what science is telling us is necessary in order to avoid the irreversible and catastrophic impacts of global warming,” he said.

In a question-and-answer session following the talk, John P. Holdren, a professor of environmental policy at the Kennedy School, asked Dimas how the EU can lead on the issue of climate change when so many other countries, including the United States, are “dragging their feet.”

Dimas said one major factor was the goal he adopted when he took office to increase public commitment to the issue.

“There is a big gap between what [people] say regarding the environment and how they respect the environment regarding individual actions,” Dimas said. “As consumers they can affect the economy. As voters they can affect politicians.”

Dimas also credited the media’s commitment to covering and prioritizing environmental stories as “very important in changing public opinion.”

Regardless of the lack of current environmental policy in the United States, Dimas said he has high hopes for the upcoming years. He has spoken with Barack Obama’s advisers and directly with John McCain, and both camps promised to work with Europe in the future to focus on the environment.

His Boston visit also cemented his belief that environmental issues are rapidly gaining ground in the United States.

“Today I have heard views expressed from senators, professors, students and NGOs,” Dimas said at a reception at the Greek Consulate following the talk. “I found that we should be optimistic about the future. I think the U.S. will lead together with Europe to fight against climate change and for our well-being and economic development.”

—Staff writer Natasha S. Whitney can be reached at nwhitney@fas.harvard.