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Carbon Dioxide Reduction Target

I will in a moment. No one should be in any doubt about the challenge that lies ahead. Atmospheric greenhouse gas levels are already at 430 parts per million of carbon dioxide equivalent, and are rising at more than two parts per million per year. They will reach 450 parts per million in less than 10 years. However, the Government’s target of at least a 60 per cent. reduction in carbon dioxide emissions is consistent with what is being recommended, albeit at the lower end, and the Government have proposed legislation that would make that target legally binding. As the House will know, the draft Climate Change Bill gives the Secretary of State a duty to ensure that the United Kingdom’s contribution to global carbon dioxide emissions in 2050 is at least 60 per cent. lower than the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions were in 1990. We also propose that there should be an interim target of a 26 to 32 per cent. reduction by 2020, and that an independent committee on climate change should give the Government advice on setting three five-year carbon budgets that will provide a pathway towards the 2050 target. They will be important in giving business the confidence it requires that we are moving towards a low-carbon economy, just as the 2050 target sends the important signal that the Government are serious about the need for action and that investment decisions are influenced as a result. We can be confident about that long-term target because it has been the subject of detailed analysis and has been accepted by a variety of stakeholders. A more stringent target would require a great deal of further analysis, rationalisation, discussion and agreement with stakeholders. The fact is that there is a consensus on the need for at least a 60 per cent. reduction, but currently no consensus on any other long-term target.