Global Threat 'Worse Than Feared'

By Sky News SkyNews - Tuesday, October 7 08:20 am

Gordon Brown should strengthen the UK's greenhouse gas emissions reduction target from 60% to 80% by 2050, experts have argued.

The recommendation comes from the government-appointed Climate Change Committee which says a more stringent goal is needed.

The committee, which is overseeing the new Climate Change Bill, says new research now suggests the dangers of global warming are greater than previously thought.

The committee's Adair Turner told Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband in a letter that an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is achievable by the middle of this century - at a cost of 1 to 2% of GDP.

He also said the cuts should ultimately cover aviation and shipping emissions, but points out that this may cause practical problems "in the short term".

The committee made its initial report following a request from Prime Minister Gordon Brown at last month's Labour Conference.

In the letter, Lord Turner says: "Climate change poses a huge potential threat to human welfare... that is why it is so vital that a global deal is reached on climate change and that the UK contributes significantly towards this.

"But we have the potential to reduce our emissions by 80% or more by using energy far more efficiently, by investing in developing new energy sources and by making relatively minor lifestyle changes."

The committee states that such a radical, 80% cut in Britain's emissions would necessitate a new way of living.

For example, it recommends that energy efficiency for buildings and industry will have to improve dramatically and that fossil-fuelled power stations will have to be replaced with renewable technologies like wind and tidal.

The transport sector will have to be "decarbonised", with electric and hybrid cars instead of petrol and diesel vehicles.

The announcement will come as welcome news to the UK's environmental organisations who have, for years now, been lobbying government to strengthen the target. 

They say it is necessary if global temperature rise is to be kept to 2 degrees Celcius and catastrophic climate change avoided.

But green groups are also adamant that emissions from aviation and shipping should also be included in the Climate Change Bill. 

Friends of the Earth's Executive Director, Andy Atkins, said: "The climate change bill is a trail-blazing piece of legislation... 

"The Bill currently has a loophole allowing future Government to continue to ignore these emissions - ministers must act to close it."

The Government's latest statistics revealed that the UK's greenhouse gas emissions fell by 0.5% in 2006, with an overall reduction of 16.4% since 1990. 

Recent reports though reveal the figures are much higher when our aviation and shipping emissions are taken into account.

There is, then, clearly some work to be done, if Britain is to come anywhere close to meeting the new target. The Climate Change Bill is due to become law in December.

Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change, said: "We need to act now to avoid dangerous climate change and the action we take must be guided by experts.

"That's why we asked Adair Turner to examine the level of our target.

"This is a pressing issue and we'll respond to the recommendations swiftly.

"Setting an emissions target in the Climate Change Bill and establishing my new Department of Energy and Climate Change sends out a strong message, but the hard work will be for us all to make emission reductions a reality over the coming decades."

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