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The UK's existing carbon budgets represent the minimum level of emissions reduction required to avoid a global 2 degrees temperature rise - regarded as a dangerous threshold - and the UK's leading climate scientists do not believe loosening the budgets is warranted. The current (2008-2012) and second (2013-2017) carbon budgets will be easily met because of the recession. But the UK is not on track to meet the third (2018-22) and fourth budgets (2023-2027), because not enough progress is being made in decarbonising transport, buildings and heat production. The Government's Carbon Plan - which set milestones for five key Government Departments to cut carbon - is out of date without any quarterly progress reports published yet. The Green Deal has also had low take-up rates so far. The Government should set a 2030 decarbonisation target for the power sector now, rather than in 2016 as the Energy Bill sets out. The Government should also reconsider placing a statutory duty on local authorities to produce low-carbon plans for their area. The current low-carbon price in the EU ETS - the result of the economic downturn of recent years and over-allocation of emissions permits - also means that that scheme will not deliver the emissions reductions envisaged when the fourth carbon budget was set. Without any tightening of the EU ETS increased pressure will therefore be placed on the non-traded sector, which will have to produce further emissions reductions to cover the emerging gap left by the traded sector
This report examines the draft Climate Change Bill, which published in March 2007 as Command paper Cm 7040 (ISBN 9780101704021). Target setting alone cannot deliver policy objectives, but enshrining one in law will strengthen the Government's resolve to achieve it, ensure greater public accountability, and give confidence to the business community whose investment decisions are central to meeting the target. The Committee recommends a number of changes to the bill. Inconsistency in language, with "UK carbon account" and "UK carbon dioxide emissions" seemingly used interchangeably, should be addressed. There should not be an upper limit on the 2020 target (26-32 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emission), and the Bill should make provision for both the 2020 and 2050 targets to be revised, though only in an upwards direction. The provision to amend a budget more than a year after the end of a budgetary period is seen as making a nonsense of the concept of budgetary periods, and should be removed completely. The proposed Committee on Climate Change, rightly composed of experts, should not appear to give more representation to economic interests over environmental ones. The resources proposed for the Committee may prove inadequate. The Committee recommends that the impact of climate change on biodiversity should be added to the Bill.
National Policy Statements (NPS) are a key component of the new planning system for nationally significant infrastructure projects, introduced by the Planning Act 2008. The Act stipulates that a proposal for a National Policy Statement will be subject to public consultation and allows for parliamentary scrutiny before designation as national policy by the Secretary of State. The draft Ports National Policy Statement (Department for Transport, 2009) has been welcomed by many organisations as a good start which can be built upon. The Committee has recommended a number of modifications and expects the Department will improve the draft as a result of the consultation and scrutiny processes. The Committee has reservations regarding the Government's 2007 policy for ports and the lack of guidance on location for port development in the NPS but this, of itself, does not make the NPS unfit for purpose. But the Committee cannot recommend designation at this stage on two counts. Firstly, a key, related policy statement - the National Networks NPS - has yet to be published. Secondly, the organisation likely to be one of the principal decision-makers for port development - the Marine Management Organisation - has yet to be established and so has been unable to comment on guidance that will be of great importance to its role. These are fundamental flaws in the consultation process and the Ports NPS should not be designated until they are rectified.
The May 2007 White Paper "Meeting the energy challenge: a white paper on energy" (Cm. 7124, ISBN 9780101712422) set out the Government's international and domestic strategy to address the two main challenges: tackling climate change by reducing carbon dioxide emissions; and ensuring clean and affordable energy as the country becomes increasingly dependent on imported fuel. An online consultation on nuclear power and the role of the private sector: www.direct.gov.uk/nuclearpower2007 was produced at the same time. This White Paper sets out the Government's decision taken in response to the consultation. The Government believes it is in the public interest that new nuclear power stations should have a role to play in the country's future energy mix alongside other low-carbon sources; that energy companies should have the option of investing in them; and that the Government should take active steps to open up the way to the construction of new nuclear power stations. It will be for the energy companies to fund, develop and build the new stations, including meeting the full costs of decommissioning and their full share of waste management costs. Section 1 summarises the consultation process. Section 2 addresses the key issues that arose from the consultation and how they have been taken into account in shaping policy and reaching conclusions. Section 3 outlines the facilitative actions the Government will take to reduce the regulatory and planning risks associated with investing in new nuclear power stations. Finally there are three annexes: alternatives to nuclear power; justification and strategic siting assessment processes; regulatory and advisory structure for nuclear power.
A deepening understanding of the importance of climate change has caused a recent and rapid increase in the number of climate change or climate-related laws. Trends in Climate Change Legislation offers an astute analysis of the political, institutional and economic factors that have motivated this surge, placing it into context.
There are two main energy challenges: tackling climate change by reducing carbon dioxide emissions; and ensuring clean and affordable energy as the country becomes increasingly dependent on imported fuel. These challenges have to be met against the backdrop of rising fossil fuel prices; slower than anticipated liberalisation of the EU energy markets; heightened awareness of the risk arising from remaining oil and gas reserves being concentrated in a few geographical regions; and a need for substantial new investment in power stations, the electricity grid and gas infrastructure. This White Paper sets out the Governments international and domestic strategy to address these challenges and ways to implement the Energy Review of 2006 and the 2006 Pre-Budget Report. There is a separate consultation document on nuclear power.
Extreme weather and climate events, interacting with exposed and vulnerable human and natural systems, can lead to disasters. This Special Report explores the social as well as physical dimensions of weather- and climate-related disasters, considering opportunities for managing risks at local to international scales. SREX was approved and accepted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on 18 November 2011 in Kampala, Uganda.
This supporting document to Budget 2011 (HC 836, ISBN 9780102971033) sets out the Government's plan for sustainable, long-term economic growth for the UK economy. It sets out four ambitions that underpin this objective, these are: to create the most competitive tax system in the G20; to make the UK one of the best places in Europe to start, finance and grow a business; to encourage investment and exports as a route to a more balanced economy and to create a more educated workforce that is the most flexible in Europe. Growth review measures outlined in Chapter 2 cover these priority areas: planning; regulation; trade and inward investment; access to finance; competition; corporate governance; low carbon. The first phase of the review also examined eight sectors of the economy to remove the barriers to growth that affect them: advanced manufacturing; healthcare and life sciences; digital and creative industries; professional and business services; retail; construction; space; tourism.