First a Royal wedding, then a firm commitment to greenhouse gas reductions – it’s good news all round in London. The sun is even shining.
Energy and Climate Minister, Chris Huhne announced last week that Britain would adopt the boldest emissions targets of any western economy – to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 50% by 2025. The decision was reportedly made after the personal intervention of Prime Minister, David Cameron, to resolve wrangling between warring government departments.
Mr Huhne has rightly been applauded. However… forgive me for turning up with my customary bucket of cold water, but there are two elements of this which would make me a bit wary.
First, while Britain’s domestic emissions have been falling, if we include the emissions relating to the goods we import, they’re actually increasing. This data isn’t collected continuously, but if we look at the data we do have, it’s clear that the UK is simply exporting its emissions, as its manufacturing base shrinks.
Second, there’s a rather sneaky clause in Mr Huhne’s announcement which hasn’t been widely reported. In essence it says the UK will go beyond the commitments of our EU partners – unless they don’t do likewise. If UK’s commitments put us on what he calls “a different emissions trajectory” to the EU, “we will revise up our budget to align it with the EU trajectory”. So we’ll boldly step out and lead the way – but if others don’t follow, we’ll step right back again.
Well, you can’t have everything. I’m not totally churlish – it’s a big step in the right direction.
So, two cheers for Chris then. And the wedding was nice.
Sources:
http://archive.defra.gov.uk/sustainable/government/progress/national/1.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/may/17/uk-halve-carbon-emissions?intcmp=122
