Wednesday 13 July 2005

Despite Tony Blair's concerns about climate change, UK emissions are continuing to rise, and are now higher than they were in 1997 when Labour came to power.

MPs and NGOs launched the details of the proposed new law in Parliament Wednesday 13 July 2005. They argued that without a legal framework, the UK will fail to make the essential year-on-year cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases.

The importance of tackling climate change was highlighted at last week's G8 summit in Edinburgh, where US opposition blocked any tangible agreement for an international plan of action to tackle the problem.

"Targets that can be missed with impunity take us backwards on climate change. They provide an illusion of progress, while covering up the lack of real action to reduce emissions." Said Matthew Davis, WWF-UK's Climate Change Campaign Director.

"This Bill will make targets meaningful, ensuring that Ministers are individually responsible for staying on track, and spelling out the consequences should they fail. As well as the devastating impact on people, this could mean up to one third of land-based species facing extinction by the middle of this century while many marine species could also be lost."

The Climate Change Bill is supported by:

• former environment Ministers from both Labour (Michael Meacher MP) and the Conservatives (John Gummer MP) and the current LibDem environment spokesman (Norman Baker MP);
• 200 other MPs who have declared their support for the Bill; and
• 10 NGOs who have formed a coalition to work for a new climate law. The coalition includes Friends of the Earth, Help the Aged, the Association for the Conservation of Energy, Christian Aid and WWF-UK.

The new law would:

• set a legally binding target to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by three per cent every year;
• compel the Prime Minister to report annually to Parliament on progress towards meeting the target; and
• introduce a series of measures to get emission cuts back on track if they do not meet the three per cent target report. This would include: requirements on ministers to introduce new policies; greater powers for Select Committees; and ultimately symbolic pay cuts for the Ministers failing to cut emissions.

At the recent general election, all three major parties supported long-term cuts in carbon dioxide emissions, all promising a 60 per cent cut by 2050. Yet emissions have risen in recent years, making it ever harder to meet such a target.

As carbon dioxide persists in the atmosphere for many years, the real limit is not simply the level of emissions in 2050, but cumulative emissions between now and then. Without this law, high emissions for the next ten years will mean far bigger annual cuts would be needed by 2050.

After the briefing Michael Meacher MP will introduce a presentation Bill which will include the measures campaigners want to see made law.