Tuesday 7 December 2010

CCC targets are "too weak": Friends of the Earth

CCC targets are "too weak": Friends of the Earth

If the government fails to accept today's CO2 targets from the Committee on Climate Change, it will be playing "Russian roulette with our future", said Friends of the Earth.

The environmental group is backing the CCC's call for a ten-fold reduction in carbon emissions from the electricity sector by 2030, but says the emission target reduction of 60% by 2030 is still "too weak".

And FoE added that imminent policy announcements such as the Energy Bill must fast-track the greening of the power sector and show that the government is serious about being the greenest administration ever.

Friends of the Earth's economy campaigner Simon Bullock said: "The government's official climate advisor has rightly called for radical decarbonisation of the UK's electricity sector. Ministers must now show that they mean business by ensuring that this is at the very heart of this week's Energy Bill, and imminent reforms of the electricity market and planning system."

Mr Bullock added that "there can be no future for gas or coal generation unless all their emissions are captured".

"The committee's call for tougher climate targets, without resorting to buying carbon offsets from abroad, is a step in the right direction, but its recommendations are still too weak, and won't enable the UK to do its fair share in averting dangerous climate change."

He said the CCC's new targets were based on a 50:50 chance of exceeding a two degree rise in global temperature, which he branded "a massive gamble with the fate of hundreds of millions of people".

"We can't afford to play Russian roulette with our future," he added. "Tougher targets are urgently needed."

Written by

Bruna Pinhoni

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