UK to cut CO2 emissions by 60%

UK to cut CO2 emissions by 60%
mongabay.com
March 13, 2007

Tony Blair pledged Wednesday to cut Britain's carbon dioxide emissions by 60 percent by 2050 in an effort to fight global warming. In announcing the Climate Change Bill, Britain becomes the first country to set legally binding targets.

"With climate change we can't just close our eyes and cross our fingers," said Environment Secretary David Miliband. "We need to step up our action to tackle it, building on our considerable progress so far. And time isn't on our side."

"This bill is a critical part of the equation," he added. "It will help us achieve the twin goals I set out in the strategy I am also publishing today - demonstrating leadership through action at home, while also continuing to work towards a strong international agreement post-2012.

Miliband says Britain will meet its targets by increasing energy efficiency, promoting low-carbon fuels and technologies, capturing and storing carbon emissions, enabling consumers to become producers as well as users of energy, and implementing carbon trading schemes.

Britain is responsible for around 2.3 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion, despite making up less than 1 percent of world population. In comparison, the United States is responsible for about 24 percent of such emissions with about 4.7 percent of the world's population, while China accounts for roughly 15 percent of emissions with more than 20 percent of the planet's population.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said that while the law will require some changes, it should not impact too heavily on the average person.

"There is a way that we can be responsible members of society but without trying to get to the stage where you say to people in Europe that you must never travel or take the aeroplane, That is not going to happen," he said.

The Bill calls for a climate change committee that would set 15-year carbon "budgets" every five years and would be enforced by the courts.

"A government that fails to meet the requirement under the bill will be subject to judicial review," said Miliband.

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