CIG has learned that the UK’s climate policy watchdog has issued a report slamming the government’s strategy to lessen the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, saying that the UK is falling well short of the required emission cuts and driving for a governmental ban on the development of high carbon infrastructure.
The report recommends putting a stop to new coal fired power plants that fail to incorporate carbon capture and storage (CCS) and possibly the limitation of aviation expansion.
It alleges that the government’s current pace of carbon cutting is not nearly sufficient and that the only reason that the government is likely to meet its initial carbon budget cuts is due to the recession’s impact on industry.
“Ministers have often been too 'optimistic' when projecting how much carbon their policies will cut – and there is now a worrying shortfall in delivery,” CIG believes the report says.
The committee highlights that the nation’s emissions are only falling by around 1% per year as opposed to the required 2 or 3% as indicated by the Committee on Climate Change, in order to avoid dangerous climate change.
"The report makes clear that the present rate of emission reduction is nowhere near high enough to hit even the 34 per cent target for 2020, let alone the more ambitious 42 per cent target that the committee would like to see adopted," CIG believes the committee chairman, MP Tim Yeo was quoted as saying. "Britain really needs to raise its game. We have an opportunity to take a leadership role, and our influence on the wider world will be much greater if we show more ambition."
