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Climate: London calls Kyoto
Brown’s government has approved the first law in the world that specifically tackles climate change.
di Staff
On November 26 the UK approved the first law in the world against climate change. By 2050 national greenhouse gas emissions will have to be reduces by 80% from 1990 levels – a more ambitious target than the 60% called for in 2000. The steps that will lead to the attainment of the target will be established and monitored by an independent climate change committee.
On Monday December 1 the committee presented the recommendations for the first three five year “carbon budgets”, from 2008 to 2022. “We are proud of this law. We are looking into how the UK can play its part ‘at home’ and we are giving our full support to the French presidency’s objective to finalise an EU climate and energy package for 2020 in December”, said Ed Miliband, Labour minister for Energy and Climate change. The new ministry, created in October 2008, is also a promising sign. It is an important decision that will contribute to the development of renewables. So far the ministry for the Environment and for Trade and Industry have worked in opposite directions: the revolution lies in the fact that now energy and climate are under the same ministry.
The challenge Ed Miliband, who is Foreign Minister David Miliband’s younger brother, is to establish how much and what energy the country needs and how to achieve this in full respect of the environment. According to Gordon Brown, “the increase in the cost of energy at a global level indicate that the policies for reducing demand and the means through which energy is produced must go hand in hand. The new ministry is responsible for reaching the objectives set by the climate change law. These issues will also be at the top of the international diplomatic agenda, in view of the global agreement on climate that has to be reached next year”.
Lord Turner, president of the commission for climate change has declared that it will be possible to reach the 80% reduction objective by 2050 despite the plans to enlarge UK airports – the government’s intention is to triple their capacity by 2030. Environmentalists are critical and Lord Smith of Finsbury, president of the national environment agency, is on their side.
Among the prickly issues on the table for the new minister, Ed Miliband, is also the decision of whether to block the construction of a new carbon power station in Kent that the minister for industry, John Hutton, is pushing in favour of. David Miliband has already announced that no more carbon fuelled stations should be built but Hutton is one of the most outspoken supporters of both nuclear and carbon fuelled power stations in Britain.
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