Global News

Posted March 2007:

'Binding' carbon targets proposed

Mr Miliband said annual targets would not be 'sensible'

The government has unveiled plans to set a "legally binding" target to cut carbon emissions by 60% by 2050.
The draft Climate Change Bill calls for "carbon budgets" to be set every five years and for ministers to give annual progress reports on cutting emissions.
Environment Secretary David Miliband said the plans, which also include more investment in wind and wave power, provided "clarity" for businesses.
He rejected opposition calls for annual targets on reducing emissions.
Mr Miliband said the Bill was "the first of its kind in any country", and Britain was "leading by example".
"The debate on climate change has shifted from whether we need to act to how much we need to do by when, and the economic implications of doing so.
"The time is therefore right for the introduction of a strong legal framework in the UK for tackling climate change," he said.
He told BBC News 24 the Bill was "born of the recognition that while we have broken the link between economic growth and pollution, we need to do more. We need to be more radical".

Solar power
The government's plans include:
·  Targets to reduce carbon emissions by 60% by 2050 and between 26% and 32% by 2020
·  Greater energy efficiency, with more consumers becoming "producers" of their own energy at home
·  Investment in low-carbon fuels and technologies, such as carbon capture and storage, wind, wave and solar power
·  Carbon "budgets" - which cap emissions levels - set every five years
·  The government reporting annually to Parliament on its progress in controlling emissions
BBC News website environment correspondent, Richard Black, said the draft bill allowed for offsetting, which would soften the impact on business.
But its overall effect on emissions would be limited without a new international agreement to replace the Kyoto protocol, which expires in 2012, he added.
Under the proposals, an independent body would advise on the setting of carbon budgets.

Future policies to control emissions would also be made "quicker and easier" to introduce.

Taken from BBC news, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6444145.stm