Government action towards climate change

Climate change is a global phenomenon which carries major environmental, social and economic implications for the UK and other countries.

09 February 2009

It's been recently reported that the latest government figures show greenhouse gases overall fell in 2007 which means that the UK is sticking to its course of reducing by double our national target set in the Kyoto agreement. Great news on an international level, but unfortunately our national targets have been largely misjudged. The pledge made by Labour of reducing green house gases by 20% from the 1990 level by 2010 is now thought to be largely unachievable. From the 1990 baseline level, the government has only succeeded in reducing emissions by 8.5% so we have a long way to go before we hit that 20% target in 2010.

Overall, the government has set the target of reducing carbon emissions by 80%, relative to 1990 levels, by 2050. Which may now been seen as a necessary but, given the circumstances, ambitious proposal. What projects are underway to reduce carbon emissions? And what can we do to affect this type of change?

Here are a few examples of what Labour is doing to reduce carbon emissions as outlined on the DirectGov website:

  • Phasing out inefficient light bulbs
  • Improving vehicle efficiency and supporting cycle training for children
  • Increasing recycling facilities
  • Reducing water leakage and supply
  • Reducing its own energy inefficiency by cutting emissions in its offices by 30%, recycling 75% of its waste and reducing its water waste by 25%

In January of this year, only 24 hours after the Labour government agreed to the third runway at Heathrow, David Cameron followed in the footsteps of Barack Obama in the US by pledging a 'smart-grid' which solar panel energy could feed into and would give each home a 'smart-meter' to target energy usage and help people reduce their emissions effectively. There's been lots of political posturing and some action; what we need to realise is that all of us to act in a greener way. You might think that it's expensive but in actual fact there are things that you can do for free or little expense which will help you save money. Don't use the recession as an excuse not to act!