New emissions target pledged

News Article - 17 October 2008
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The government is to aim for an 80 per cent cut in the country's carbon emissions measurement by 2050.

Ed Miliband, the Department of Climate Change and Energy secretary, informed MPs that the change from the previous target of 60 per cent will be written in to the Climate Change Bill, enforcing it legally.

The previous target no longer reflected scientific evidence, he said, echoing the thoughts of the climate change committee.

He told the Commons: "In tough economic times, some people will ask whether we should retreat from our climate change objectives.

"In our view, it would be quite wrong to row back, and those who say we should misunderstand the relationship between the economic and environmental tasks we face."

The climate change committee's chairman, Lord Turner, said accounting for carbon emissions cuts will require a cost in GDP of one to two per cent.

Andy Atkins, executive director of Friends of the Earth, said his organisation was "absolutely delighted" by the news, as "this is what the science demands".

However, he was unhappy that carbon emissions reporting for businesses in the international shipping and aviation industry would "be dealt with outside the bill".

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