The omission of future air travel emissions from the Government’s proposals to tackle climate change is “a serious weakness”, an all-party group of MPs and peers said in a report published today.
It added the “weight of scientific evidence” before the Committe was that a target of “more than 60% is likely to be necessary” and so it welcomed the government’s emphasis that this figure was the minimum reduction.
It also called for close monitoring and reporting of other greenhouse gases apart from carbon dioxide to “ensure complacency does not set in”, and for greater parliamentary accountability.
However, it determined that the Bill was evidence of “an ambitious determination to keep the UK at the front line of international action to mitigate climate change”.
Committee chairman Lord Puttnam said: “We believe this to be an exceptionally significant piece of legislation because of the scale of the issues it seeks to address, the impact of its enactment is likely to have on individuals and communities, and the Government’s intention that it should serve as an overarching framework for further and more detailed complementary legislation”.
He added: “The Government’s biggest challenge is to ensure that we all understand the consequences of both our own and future generations failing to achieve the targets enshrined in this groundbreaking Bill. In that context we urge the Government to give the most careful consideration to our report”.
The proposed oversight body the Committee on Climate Change must be properly resourced and given sufficient powers, it said. “It is hard to imagine any non-parliamentary body, other than the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England, whose role has the potential for greater impact on individuals, their families and society as a whole,” the report said.
Local government should also be given a more prominent role in helping communities “adapt to the realities of climate change,” it recommended. It also called for further thinking on legal enforceability of the Bill.
It recommended, too, close examination and policing of provisions which allow for foreign carbon credits to be purchased to help meet the targets.
Liberal Democrat committee member David Howarth said: “The Government’s proposal to use foreign carbon credits to meet 70% of our emissions targets is outrageous. It puts off creating a low carbon economy in the UK and relies on other countries making the necessary changes.
“The committee has rightly taken a tough line on foreign credits. I hope the Government listens.
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[tags]air emissions, aircraft pollution, climate change bill, climate bill[/tags]
[...] Change. Indeed, that committee under Puttnam came out strongly in the past week criticised a government proposed Climate Change bill as not going far enough. In addition, he also addressed the issue of the digital divide, and the [...]