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The United Kingdom consists of Great Britain (England, Wales, and Scotland) and Northern Ireland. Even though the UK only accounts for 2% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the nation has taken a strong lead on climate change both at home and abroad. In enacting the Climate Change Act of 2008, the UK became the first country to implement legally binding carbon emissions reduction targets. 1 The UK is also actively involved in international negotiations on climate change through such treaties as the Kyoto Protocol through groups such as the G8 and the European Union.
Domestic mitigation efforts
Domestically, viewing the world is increasingly carbon constrained in the future, the UK has taken a wide spectrum of measures to reduce its CO2 and other GHG emissions. The government is committed to meet its goal of reducing COS emissions by 60% on 1990 levels by 2050 and aims to achieve “real progress” by 2020. 2
In 2008, the Climate Change Act of 2008 became the world's first long-term, legally binding framework on climate change. The legislation has four major elements:
- "placing the target to cut CO2 emissions by 60% from 1990 levels by 2050
- establishing an independent "Carbon Committee" to work with ministers to deliver reductions "over time and across the economy"
- creating new powers to ensure the 2050 target is achieved
- improving the way CO2 reductions are monitored and reported, including to Parliament" 3
International mitigation efforts
In 2005, the UK took the lead in promoting climate change on the international agenda as part of its presidencies of the G8 and the European Union. This led to an agreement at the G8 conference in Gleneagles for a new Dialogue on Climate Change with the leaders of China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa.
In the EU, the EU Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS), as a key plank of EU climate and energy policy, tackles emissions from large point sources of emissions such as the electricity generation sector. The UK is actively engaged in the ongoing Commission-led review of EU ETS. The UK will also push hard for greater certainty on European plans for implementation of the EU ETS beyond 2012 and the UK is pushing the EU to set a more ambitious goal for greenhouse gas emission reductions, which was originally set to 15-30% by 2020. 4
Footnotes
1: DEFRA Climate Change Act of 2008. Retrieved on: 21 February 2009.
2: DEFRA Sustainable Development, Part E: Energy, Introduction. Retrieved on: 21 February 2009.
3: DEFRA, UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Retrieved on: 21 February 2009.
4: Draft Climate Change Bill, Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs by Command of Her Majesty, March 2007.
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