#7: Climate Change Bill Update

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A Bill Without Balls?

If the rest of the developed world followed the pathway envisaged in the United Kingdom’s Climate Change Bill, dangerous climate change would be inevitable – United Nations Development Programme

In June 2008 a press release by UK development charity Christian Aid announced that the government had “eviscerated” the Climate Change Bill – a potentially groundbreaking piece of legislation which will put greenhouse gas reduction targets into UK law. The UK government had announced its intention to remove key ammendments that have been made by the House of Lords.

We speak to Eliot Whittington, Christian Aid’s senior advisor on Climate Change and Sustainable Development, about their concerns and how they might be addressed. They include:

• an outdated target of 60% reduction in CO2 by 2050
• removal of a reference to the 2C global threshold
• shipping and aviation still not included
• no limit on the amount of carbon credits that can be bought to meet targets
• removal of an obligation on UK companies to disclose their carbon footrpint

Links/references

• Government ‘Eviscerates’ Climate Change Bill – Christian Aid, 9 June 2008
• Mind The Gap – Why the UK Government’s CC Bill will not reduce emissions (WDM, May 2008)
• Why the Government’s Carbon Diet must include Chocolate (Friends of the Earth, May 2008)
• George Monbiot – Traded Away (The Guardian, 24 July 2008)
• Reframing Climate Change: From Long-term targets to Emission Pathways – Professor Kevin Anderson, Tyndall Centre (17 June 2008)
• DEFRA Climate Change Bill page
• UK Parliament Climate Change Bill page

Actions

• Email your MP about getting the Carbon Disclosure Clause back into the Climate Change Bill http://www.christianaid.org.uk/ActNow/dosomething/emailmp.aspx
• Get your MP to support the following Early Day Motions on the Climate Change Bill
• http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=34898
• http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=35896&SESSION=891
• Contact your MP via: http://www.writetothem.com