Last week we received the latest IPCC (http://ipcc.ch/) report and heard that now the human race can be 95% certain that we are responsible for rising CO2 levels and are on course for catastrophic climate change unless we start to seriously deal with this issue. In light of this and George Osborne's continuing ridiculous support for now outdated fossil fuel based energy it seemed worth while to reconcile the report and this rhetoric to the actual policies the Uk's ''greenest govt ever'' is actually signed up to........
From DECC - The UK is committed to reducing its emissions by 34% by 2020 and 80% by 2050, compared to the 1990 baseline. These targets are enshrined in law: the Climate Change Act (2008), and the government’s performance against them is monitored by an independent Climate Change Committee.
We are progressively decarbonising our energy sector, transport and economy and have introduced incentives to reduce domestic energy consumption. The proposed Energy Bill will enable low carbon technologies to compete in the electricity market and attract investment.
Internationally, we are working towards a binding global deal to reduce emissions at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties in 2015. We agreed, as part of the EU, to enter the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol and are pressing the EU to move to a 30% emissions reduction target by 2020 and 50% by 2030 in the context of a global comprehensive agreement on climate change. Alongside this, the UK is providing £3.87 billion through its International Climate Fund (ICF) to support developing countries, to demonstrate low carbon development, protect forests and to help the poorest countries adapt to the impacts of climate change.
So if this is the policy - why do the senior politicians give such conflicting signals..
