The Big Ask Climate Debate Blair1 November 2006
I suspect I share many more views on climate change with Friends of the Earth supporters than you might imagine.
I am fully aware of just how serious a challenge it is to our planet and way of life.
I agree as well there is a huge amount more to do both at home and internationally to cut emissions.
Above all, I share your view that there is very little time to waste.
There is, I promise you, no complacency in Government. We recognise that we have little time before climate change becomes irreversible and possibly catastrophic.
I also believe that Friends of the Earth and other environmental groups have played a huge role in ensuring the public is aware of the scale of the threat we face - and that this role will continue to be absolutely vital in the years ahead.
It is in no small part because of this campaigning and expertise that Britain can rightly claim to be a world leader in tackling climate change.
And this is where we do, I suspect, differ a little. Because there is a tendency, because of frustrations, to downplay what has been achieved.
The Government's record on emissions
Far from Britain failing to meet its Kyoto target as is often suggested, we are on course to double our promised cuts in greenhouse gases. No other country will get anywhere near this reduction.
Nor have we given up hope of meeting our own self-imposed target of cutting carbon dioxide emissions of 20% by 2010 - again something no other country is even attempting to do.
It's true that carbon dioxide emissions have increased marginally in recent years which is why we have to do more.
That is why we have now set a tough limit on industry emissions in the next phase of the European Carbon Trading Scheme.
But even without new action, we are still on course for a 16% reduction by 2010.
We also intend to put in place a raft of new measures - including new targets for renewable energy and energy efficiency, which FOE support, and replacing nuclear plants which it does not - to continue progress towards our long-term goal of a 60% reduction by 2050.
And, importantly we have also shown the world - and particularly the new economic powerhouses like China - that this can be achieved without sacrificing prosperity.
Between 1997 and 2005, our economy has grown 25% while our emissions of greenhouses gases have fallen by 7%.
World leadership
We have also, of course, played a major role in pushing climate change to the top of the international agenda and keeping it there.
This is, of course, vital. Britain only accounts for 2% of global emissions. Even if we stop producing any carbon at all, the growth in China's economy and emissions would make up this difference in two years.
But this does not let us off the hook from acting at home. We need to play our full part in cutting global greenhouse gas emissions.
And such action will also help retain our influence when we ask others to follow our lead and continue demonstrating, too, the potential of green growth - that saving the planet and saving jobs can go hand in hand.
The Climate Change bill will ensure we do this. It will put the 2050 goal of a 60% cut into legislation, establish an expert Carbon committee to advise us on how we achieve it and put in place the domestic framework to ensure it happens.
It will give business in particular the certainty to continue investing in energy efficiency measures and to develop green power.
Annual targets
I know Friends of the Earth are disappointed that annual targets for reductions will not be part of the bill.
But a year is too short a period with too many factors such as a cold winter or a sudden hike in energy prices outside Government control to make this a meaningful trigger for action.
The cold winter of 2001, for example, saw emissions increase by 3% over the previous year only to drop back again to the same level within 12 months.
So annual targets would force action to be taken which could hit both families and business to tackle a problem which may already be disappearing by the time the measures are put in place.
But, of course, we need interim targets en route to the 2050 goal and these will help keep Government to it.
Within the EU, we need to agree tougher standards to stop wastage from light bulbs, fridges and standby. We need to extend and strengthen the EU Emissions trading scheme and bring aviation in to it. And we should launch a new initiative to make every new power station carbon neutral within a set timetable.
And globally, we need to agree - and quickly - a more radical framework post- 2012 for stabilising emissions in the atmosphere, a global cap and trade scheme, and measures to help poor countries adapt to which all nations sign up.
I have been mystified in the past to find myself criticised for undermining Kyoto. I believe it was a vital first step which is why we put such effort into getting agreement on it and almost alone will meet its national targets.
But it's not going soft on climate change to point out that it does not include, in any meaningful way, the economic powerhouses of China, India or America and that, even if it did, it's still not radical enough to meet the challenge we face.
We have to build on Kyoto, ensure everyone is involved - and we have to do it quickly.
And, of course, we all have a part to play as individuals whether it's using energy-efficient light bulbs, turning down the thermostat - both of which we are already doing at No 10 ,by the way - installing loft insulation or the many other ways, big and small, we can make a difference by changing our behaviour.
The signs are that the world is slowly waking up to the threat of climate change. Together we have to ensure this leads to action at home and across the planet.
