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DECC sets out new emission reduction target
As DECC sets new carbon emission reduction targets for the UK out to 2032, Amber Rudd has confirmed that the direction of travel for UK climate change policy remains…
The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change confirmed yesterday in a speech at the Business and Climate Summit in London that government’s commitment to climate change was unchanged following the referendum.
“While I think the UK’s role in dealing with a warming planet may have been made harder by the decision last Thursday, our commitment to dealing with it has not gone away,” Rudd told delegates at the international conference.
Today, DECC published the outcome of its deliberations on the 5th carbon budget, the UK carbon cap for the period 2028-32.
It has set an emissions reduction target of 57% in line with the recommendations made by the Committee on Climate Change, the government’s independent advisors on emission targets.
The requirement to set forward-looking carbon budgets is enshrined in the UK’s own Climate Change Act, and European policy. It was delivered with cross-party support by UK Parliament in 2008. She said leading leave campaigners have made clear they remain committed to it, but there remain doubts about the views of Boris Johnson and other leading contenders such as Theresa May, Michael Gove and Stephen Crabb.
Nevertheless in her speech, Amber Rudd was bullish in insisting that the challenge of securing our energy supply, keeping bills low and building a low carbon energy infrastructure remain the same and “our commitment also remains the same.” She also said that the UK will not step back from its international leadership role on climate change: “We must not turn our back on Europe or the world.”
Despite the assurances made yesterday, there are some significant questions that remain unanswered. For one, it is not yet clear what the implications of Brexit will mean for the ratification of the Paris Agreement.
The Agreement itself does not enter into force until at least 55 countries, representing 55% of the world’s emissions have taken the necessary steps at home to formally accept it. The EU, with the UK, makes up 12% of emissions and so its contribution is an important one.
Unanswered questions remain on whether the UK can ratify it while still an EU member state? If they delay, could it delay when the agreement comes into force? What would the EU and UK’s target’s look like it they signed separately? There are fears already been expressed that without the UK’s progressive input into the European Council, the balance of power will swing to give Eastern European countries more leverage as they attempt to limit EU climate ambition.
It is also unclear whether the government pledge for a net zero emissions target in UK law, as promised by Leave supporter and energy minister Andrea Leadsom will persist.
