Summary
‘Taking Forward the
UK Climate Change Bill: The Government Response to Pre-Legislative Scrutiny and
Public Consultation’ (Cm. 7225) sets out the Government's response to the
public consultation on the
'Draft
Climate Change Bill’ (Cm. 7040)
The response also addresses
the reports of the following Parliamentary Committees during session 2006-07:
The Climate Change Bill seeks to introduce a
clear, credible and long-term framework to support emissions reductions in the
UK, designed to maximise the social and economic benefits and minimise costs.
The Bill also sets out an international precedent, reinforcing the UK's
position as a consistent leader in the field of climate change and energy
policy. This document explains the main changes the Government intends to make
to the Bill, taking into account the consultation responses and the
recommendations of the three Parliamentary Committees.
Key elements of
the Bill include:
- Putting into statute the UK's domestic targets to
reduce carbon dioxide emissions through domestic and international action by at
least 60% by 2050, and 26 to 32% by 2020, against a 1990 baseline
- Secondary legislation to set binding limits known as carbon budgets on
aggregate carbon dioxide emissions over five year periods
- The creation
of a new independent body, the Committee on Climate Change, to advise on
setting carbon budgets.
Published on the same day by the House of
Commons Environmental Audit Committee
‘The
Structure of Government and the Challenge of Climate Change’ (HC 740)
examines the Government's performance, over the past decade, on the domestic
challenge of climate change.
The Committee finds there is a need
for:
- A strategic review of Government action to ensure that
responsibility for the delivery of climate change policy is clear
- A
new long-term policy framework to ensure that policies introduced today do not
undermine our ability to reduce emissions in the future
- A body to be
established within the Cabinet Office to drive forward policy and diminish
potential conflict of objectives between departments.
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