News Date: Monday 20th November 2006
Tim welcomes Government commitment to legislation on Climate Change
East Worthing and Shoreham MP Tim Loughton has welcomed the announcement in this year's Queen's Speech of a Climate Change Bill. Early indications are that the Bill will enshrine in law Britain's target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 60% by 2050 from 1990 levels as well as establishing an independent carbon committee to ensure cuts in carbon use over time.
Tim commented:
"Climate Change is one of the greatest challenges facing our generation. If we don't cut emissions soon, we will irrevocably alter our climate. The Earth could rise by 6 degrees by the end of the century: a greater jump in temperature than from the last ice age until now. We don't know what all the effects will be, but that is precisely the point. We simply can't play a game of chance with the future of our planet.
"Moreover, as my coastal constituents are only too aware, the UK is on the frontline. Already, the costs of flooding have doubled in the past 5 years. Simply put, we can't "adapt" to much more climate change: we simply have to stop it.
Tim continued:
"News of the Bill represents a good start but we must all go further. The Government has said that the Bill will include ten year carbon reduction targets, rather than annual targets, on the basis that events and weather conditions could affect such targets.
"I, however, would like to see the Government commit to annual targets, with independent audits of emissions reductions year on year. This is certainly something that I will be considering further when the Bill is debated at Westminster."
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
1) Britain is already committed to the Kyoto Protocol, agreed in 1997, to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 12.5% below the levels of 1990, by 2008-12. The Government has gone further and promised to cut 1990 carbon dioxide levels by 20% by 2010. In its 2003 Energy White Paper, the Government set an aspiration of reducing carbon emissions by 60% by 2050.
2) In the UK Climate Change Programme 2006, the Government set out their policies and priorities for action in the UK and internationally. They reinforced their commitment to meeting not only the Kyoto target, but also the 20 % domestic target.
3) For more information, contact Tim Loughton MP's Westminster office on 020 7219 4471.
?, Tim Loughton MP , 2006
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