Cameron calls for new climate change bill
David Cameron has today joined with Friends of the Earth to call for a new climate change bill to be introduced to parliament.
The proposed legislation would set annual targets for reducing carbon emissions, with a view to cutting them by 60 per cent on 1990 levels by 2050, and would create a new independent monitoring body to assess progress in meeting these goals.
Speaking from south Devon this morning, the Conservative leader said there was cross-party support for a new law that bound all future governments to tackling climate change.
“I believe we can find the resolve and determination to overcome, on a cross-party basis, the great challenge that climate change represents for our nation and our planet,” Mr Cameron said.
An early day motion calling for annual carbon emission cuts of three per cent to be introduced in the form of a new bill has been signed by 380 MPs so far.
However, Tony Blair has previously rejected the idea of annual targets as too restrictive and today a Defra spokesman insisted: “We are already committed to reducing greenhouse gases at home and abroad.”
The UK was on course to go beyond meeting its Kyoto target of cutting emissions by 12.5 per cent by 2010 and achieve its own goal of a 20 per cent reduction, he said.
Mr Cameron today admitted there was still a “huge battle of ideas” on how to meet the new carbon reduction targets, but insisted it was vital to agree on the main goals.
“The simple fact is that we cannot afford for any government in this century to put off action on climate change. All must do their bit regardless of their political colour,” he said.
“Long-term targets have not provided sufficient incentives to act so far: annual targets will make it much harder for any one government to shirk responsibility, hoping that another will get back on track for the 2050 target.”
The Conservatives have today sent a letter to Tony Blair, signed by the WWF, Friends of the Earth, Christian Aid and Help the Aged, outlining their argument.
They say a new bill would send a clear message to businesses that ministers were serious about tackling climate change, giving them the confidence to invest in new technology.
“This is the framework that we believe can set out the means, the different tools that we have [to tackle climate change]. All of these things can be done but we need sustained action,” said Friends of the Earth’s executive director, Tony Juniper.
Liberal Democrat environment spokesman Chris Huhne said: “A climate change bill would be a useful tool in the fight against global warming.
“It would set a legally binding target forcing both the Tory and Labour parties to come forward with concrete measures to reduce harmful emissions, as the Liberal Democrats have done.”
The Defra spokesman said ministers recognised the need for a “wide debate” about how to tackle climate change, but repeated Mr Blair’s concern that annual targets would be too inflexible.
He said annual benchmarks would not allow for sudden increases in energy use, for example if there were a particularly cold winter, or for surges in oil prices.
