Britain leads with vow to cut carbon emissions by 80pc

Canberra Times
Saturday 18/10/2008 Page: 15

Britain will introduce a legally binding pledge to cut carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050, the minister for the newly created Department for Energy and Climate Change said yesterday. The promise, which involves amending soon-to-be approved legislation that requires Britain to cut carbon emissions by 60 per cent of 1990 levels by 2050, came after a recommendation to do so from a government-appointed committee.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said in a statement to the House of Commons, "We will amend the Climate Change Bill to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050, and that target will be binding in law." British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is determined to lead the way in tackling climate change. He hinted the Government would accept the new emissions target in a Labour Party conference speech last month. The cuts will cover all industries, including shipping and aviation.

The committee that made the initial recommendations said it would cost 1-2 per cent of gross domestic product in 2050 and was feasible. Mr Miliband said other laws would be amended to encourage smallscale energy generation through the use of home-based wind turbines or solar panels. He called on European countries to follow suit. Campaigners welcomed the pledge, but said Britain should lower carbon emissions locally, and not rely on the use of carbon offsetting, whereby individuals or companies can pay for green projects elsewhere to "offset" their own emissions.

Britain's World Wildlife Fund chief executive David Nussbaum said, "The key issue now is to ensure that we move swiftly to a low-carbon economy which creates new jobs here in the UK... rather than relying excessively on imported carbon credits." Britain became the first country in the world to introduce legally binding cuts in emissions of carbon dioxide when the Climate Change Bill completed its passage through Parliament in March. It is awaiting Royal Assent, effectively a rubber stamp that shows the monarch has approved it.