Summary
This Report
‘Beyond
Stern: From the Climate Change Programme’ (HC 460) is about how the
Government sets targets for reductions in UK green house gases, assesses
progress by forecasting likely levels of future emissions and revises its
policies in the light of experience.
The Report is in two parts:
the first looks at the
'Climate
Change: The UK Programme 2006' (Cm. 6764), whilst the second examines the
proposed
'Draft
Climate Change Bill' (Cm. 7040).
The Climate Change Programme Review
revealed a number of weaknesses in the UK climate change policy as it became
apparent that the target of a 20% reduction in carbon emissions by 2010 would
be missed. Revisions to the projection of emissions had not been done
frequently enough, so by the time Ministers knew there were problems it was too
late to introduce new measures. The programme is however likely to be rescued,
somewhat, by Phase II of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, which promises to
deliver some real savings.
The draft Climate Change Bill, alongside
other developments such as the creation of the Office of Climate Change and
requirements of the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006, is broadly
well designed and a far-reaching response to these issues.
Find out more
about the
Stern
Report.
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How
does it affect me?
Climate change affects us all: this Report looks at
the Government’s key climate change policies.
The Committee warns that
very significant issues remain:
- The UK’s targets for 2020 and
2050 must be significantly toughened
- The proposed Committee on Climate
Change must be given a stronger role, including a duty to audit the
Government’s emissions figures
- International aviation and shipping
emissions must be included within the UK’s targets
- Use of
international carbon credits should be strictly limited and transparently
reported
- Government must focus more on the total amount of carbon
emissions the UK can “safely” emit over the next forty years, rather than
on simply hitting annual emissions targets in individual target
years.
Read more on climate change policy on the
Department
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs website.
Read more about the
work of the
House
of Commons Environmental Audit Committee.