marklynas.org'We have failed on climate', government admits 28 March 06
UK government ministers are admitting today that their strategy to combat climate change has failed. When the Labour government came to power in 1997, one of its flagship commitments was to see a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 20% on 1990 levels by 2010 – further than the reductions mandated by Kyoto. But, in what the Independent’s Michael McCarthy in today’s front-page story calls “one of the most embarrassing admissions of the government’s nine years in office”, ministers will sit down together in front of the media and admit that they have failed.
Reading between the lines of the new Climate Change Programme Review (big PDF file: 2MB) it is clear why. Officially the blame lies at the hands of the power sector, which – in a chilling foretaste of what peak oilers have long predicted – has been switching back to coal because of spiralling gas prices. But it also mentions “higher than anticipated levels of economic growth”, a suprising acknowledgement of the role that rising consumption has in destroying the planet.
Having failed in their duty of leadership on the most pressing issue facing humanity, politicians seem to be throwing their hands up in despair and are instead demanding voluntary personal action by individuals. This is a surprisingly laissez-faire attitude given the insistence of government in intervening in every other aspect of our daily lives, from food regulations to ID cards. Yet when it comes to climate change, as citizens it seems we’re on our own.
As I mentioned below, the Budget gave a taste of the government’s lack of will to take positive action. But it’s worse than simple inaction: the government also seems determined to make things worse. It is driving forward a massive boom in aviation (more on that later this week), as well as making car travel cheaper relative to public transport by freezing fuel duty, making business emissions cheaper by freezing the ‘climate change levy’ and trying to get the UK’s industrial greenhouse gas emissions targets weakened by taking legal action against the EU.
But like the Bush Administration, the UK government is being left behind – even by its own MPs. Labour MP Colin Challen, chairman of the All-party Parliamentary Climate Change Group, is launching an audacious new campaign to challenge the ruling mantra of economic growth. It is economic growth, Challen points out, that ensures that any personal actions we might take as individuals is swamped by rising emissions everywhere else, so this sacred cow of politics must be slaughtered. Challen and his group are calling instead for a new economic system based on rationed carbon use, where each individual is allocated an equal share of a declining budget.
Comments
Eddan
March 28th, 2006 at 02:16 PM
The more I get involved with the struggle against the rising climate, the more I get confused. Despite my first impressions, the swedish goverment seems to be serious about their climate work. Sadly enough, the European Union are trying to replace oil and coal with nuclear wich seems like a desperate atempt to reduce the contamination. I don’t know about the UK but I’ll guess they’ll fall in the line of the EU. It would be mutch better if the teamed up the the swedish goverment in stead.
Almuth Ernsting
March 29th, 2006 at 09:49 AM
Had a brief look at this most depressing document yesterday. Particularly at transport, where all attempts to reduce traffic or even cap its growth have been abandoned. Not even the timid idea about enforcing existing speed limits to save emissions (opposed by motoring organisations) were adopted!
Since I have been busy looking at biofuels recently, this is the chapter I read first with great concern. And I immediately noticed that the carbon reduction figure claimed from that is, quite blatantly, a lie! It’s a lie because there are agreed emissions attributed to biofuels (I think the real emissions are far higher than the agreed ones, but let’s just stick by what the government accept). The paper says that their own assessments would put savings from biofuels at 0.6MtC lower, but international methodology allows them to claim the full 1.6 MtC savings nonetheless. Well, no, it doesn’t. International methodology would allow them to say so much less from transport, so much more from agriculture and business – not just to ignore all the emisisons!
Of course, referring to the vehicle excise duty to make cars more fuel-efficient is an equal scam, because there is (I believe, would need to check this) research to say what level of duty is needed to make a difference and it is well above the level set by the government. Again, more emissions savings going up in smoke.
Now, this is the one area where I really know the figures and can see they are wrong. I coudln’t do the figures for business or domestic savings. But seeing creative accounting in one section makes me worry about all the others. Bad enough seeing all the things not in the programme, the unambitious targets set…and then some of the ‘emission savings’ are false accounting, too. Let’s hope that’s only true for the transport sector (and wait until somebody with more knowledge looks at all the other sectors)...
I have no doubt at all that the UK will be ‘unable to meet targets’ with those policies!
Almuth Ernsting
Peter Winters BHI
March 29th, 2006 at 01:01 PM
I agree!
My impression is that Tony Blair & the excellent Margaret Beckett understand the huge challenge that we face, but are not doing nearly enough about it.
Gordon Brown does not strike me as someone who is someone who really gets it; he is doing a bit of tinkering – but does he really think that the level of changes he is proposing in the budget is going to make much difference??
.. but I do agree with one of the sentiments that they are talking about, and that the government cannot do this alone. Most members of the public really do not seem (yet) to take much attention of climate change in their day to day lives and the choices they make.
Maryam Yahyavi
March 29th, 2006 at 08:56 PM
Much of the recent cuts in CO2 emissions had been to the decline in UK manufacturing, moving these to China & Co. However, at the same time the government’s building more roads and accommodating more cars, with inefficient taxes on them. Wind farms and other renewable sources get little monetary support, fail at planning applications and overall nobody cares. It is imperative to move off oil and gas when and where possible. I will be watching Germany myself, they have no oil and gas to rely on at all…