UK: Disappointment for campaigners on climate bill

The UK government has rejected amendments by the House of Lords that would have strengthened the UK?s flagship climate change bill. The bill sets targets for reducing UK carbon emissions by 26 per cent by 2020, and 60 per cent by 2050, on 1990 levels.

A major flaw of the bill is that it allows the emission reduction targets to be met through paying for carbon ?offsets? from developing countries, rather than reducing emissions in the UK. The House of Lords amended the bill in March so that a maximum of 30 per cent of the reduction in emissions could happen through buying ?offsets?.

The bill began its passage through the House of Commons on Monday, with the government rejecting the House of Lords amendment. This means that there is no limit on how much of the emissions reduction targets which can be met through buying carbon ?offsets? rather than making genuine reductions in the UK.

Tim Jones, policy officer for climate change at the World Development Movement said: ?The World Development Movement is very disappointed that the government has thrown out amendments made by the House of Lords which would have strengthened the climate bill. The government has weakened this bill so that, as it stands, it will not require any reduction in the UK?s contribution to climate change.

?The government is still refusing to include aviation emissions within the bill. It is also allowing targets for reducing emissions to be met through paying for carbon ?offsets? rather than actually reducing emissions in the UK. The government has failed to acknowledge that the success of this bill is vital for the future of millions of people in the developing world.?

The World Development Movement has shown that the current climate bill does not require any reduction in the UK?s emissions by 2050. Read Mind the Gap (pdf, 34 pages).

Over 250 MPs, 167 of them Labour, have signed an Early Day Motion calling for aviation emissions to be included in the bill, and for the reduction target to be increased to 80 per cent by 2050. As well as refusing to include emissions from aviation in the bill, the government have also failed to raise the target for reducing emissions from 60 per cent to 80 per cent.