The proposed cuts in UK emissions of 60% by 2050 may be reconsidered to an increased 80%. Environment Secretary Hilary Benn will ask a new Climate Change Committee to report within 2 years whether this should happen, according to Reuters. With new evidence and increased fears of global warming, this may well be the case.
The new committee is being set up as part of the revised climate change bill. The government would have to consult with the committee before making any changes to its targets from now on.

“The watchdog committee, which will be set up under the new bill, will also report on whether Britain’s targets should cover international aviation and shipping, which are not presently covered in the draft.

Other changes include allowing the committee to appoint its own chief executive and staff, and requiring the government to consult it before altering the headline 2020 and 2050 targets.

Campaign group Friends of the Earth said the proposed changes meant the government “is getting ever closer to introducing a truly groundbreaking piece of legislation.

“However the bill needs to be beefed up if it is going to deliver the cuts which science tells us are needed,” the group’s Director Tony Jupiter said in a statement. “

Technorati Tags: emissions, Environment, Hilary Benn, Climate Change, global warming, climate

This entry was posted on October 29th, 2007 at 22:08 (GMT) and is filed under Emissions Reductions, UK Energy Policy . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.