Davey demands EU emissions target

Energy Secretary Ed Davey says the EU should commit to a tough new target to halve emissions by 2030
26 May 2013

Europe should commit to a tough new target to halve emissions by 2030, Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey has said.

The Lib Dem Cabinet minister said the goal was ambitious but achievable as the Government set out its position ahead of efforts to secure a new international deal in 2015 on tackling global warming.

But the UK will oppose a European Union wide renewable energy target because it is "inflexible and unnecessary," he added.

Mr Davey wants Brussels to set an emissions reduction target of 50% on 1990 levels by 2030 within an international deal, or go it alone with a 40% goal if an agreement cannot be struck.

He said: "The UK is a global leader in tackling climate change and we need to maintain the momentum towards a binding global climate agreement in 2015. That is why we will argue for an EU wide binding emissions reductions target of 50% by 2030 in the context of an ambitious global climate deal and even a unilateral EU 40% target without a global deal. This 2030 target is ambitious, but it is achievable and necessary if we are to limit climate change to manageable proportions."

He added: "In the UK, our approach is technology neutral and our reforms will rely on the market and competition to determine the low carbon electricity mix. We will therefore oppose a renewable energy target at an EU level as inflexible and unnecessary."

Ruth Davis, of Greenpeace UK, said: 'In pushing for a 50% European carbon cut by 2030, Ed Davey and the Prime Minister have secured a rare outbreak of Cabinet common sense on climate policy. As China forges ahead with new anti-pollution measures, a credible 2030 target is not just essential to build support for a global climate deal in 2015, but also to ensure Europe can compete in the rapidly expanding global market for green goods and services."

But she said this made the Government's opposition to a renewables target even more perverse, adding: "In opposing a renewables target, not for the first time the irrational prejudices of the Tory right seem to have trumped the interests of working people in Britain."

David Nussbaum, chief executive officer of WWF-UK, said: "This announcement by Government is welcome in that it helps bring much needed clarity to European negotiations on a future climate and energy package. It will also help provide vital momentum to international efforts to agree a global deal on climate change in 2015.

"However, the EU and its key member states should be clear that any serious attempt by the EU to play its part in preventing dangerous levels of climate change requires at least a 50% cut in its emissions by 2030."

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