On course?

News that the government is well off target as far as hitting its CO₂ emissions target is concerned puts more pressure on the forthcoming Energy White Paper. This document, which has already seen publication pushed to the end of March, will now have greater significance for anyone with an interest in the environment.

Pressure has come from chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission, Jonathon Porritt, for the Energy White Paper to demonstrate that Government is willing to take the steps necessary to get itself back on course to cut emissions by 20%. "Our analysis shows that the UK will fall well short of the Government's goal for reducing emissions of CO₂, the principle greenhouse gas, unless further measures are taken," says a recent report by the Commission.

So what would these missing measures do to get the target back within range? The Commission's audit of the UK's Climate Change Programme included some of the external factors that have had an impact on the programme. It highlights the move to competitive gas and electricity markets that has driven down prices and increased consumption, and the emissions from international air travel, described in the report as 'of rapidly growing importance, weakening the overall value of good work in other sectors'.

The UK is unlikely to achieve even two thirds of its targeted 20% reduction because the measures required are simply not in place

The Commission has listed recommendations it believes should be adopted by the government if it's serious about emission cuts: 'Designing ambitious targets and policies against a sustainable development framework; providing capital markets with clear signals about the move to a low carbon economy, to encourage investment in low carbon energy sources; improving resource productivity to reduce wasteful throughput and benefiting economic competitiveness; ensuring environmental costs are fully internalised, and more equal value placed on carbon savings in different sectors of the economy; and on air travel specifically, for some constraints on the growth of demand, so as to keep its adverse impacts to manageable proportions'.