Fifth Carbon Budget at the Forefront of Climate Change Campaign

The results of a survey distributed by the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment (IEMA) shows a huge amount of support for sustainability in the UK. The survey, taken by environment and sustainability professionals, highlights the need of the Government to adopt a 5^th Carbon Budget. This is based on the recommendations of the Committee on Climate Change.

The Government is required to set a legally binding carbon budget for the period 2028-2032 by the end of June 2016. The independent Committee on Climate Change has recommended a budget that would limit annual emissions to an average 57 per cent below 1990 levels, as being the most cost effective way for the UK to achieve its long-term climate targets.

IEMA research found that almost 90 per cent of respondents to its poll conducted during the past week believe that the UK Government should accept the Committee on Climate Change recommendation.

Martin Baxter, Chief Policy Advisor at IEMA, said: “The Government’s independent climate advisors have recommended a carbon budget that is consistent with the UK meeting its national and international emissions reductions in the most cost effective way. Government urgently needs to adopt this recommendation to provide long-term certainty to business and investors.

“The true test of climate leadership is about sustaining the implementation of policies to achieve long-term climate goals. Government must remain resolute in its support for the UK achieving the 2050 80 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions. The 5^th Carbon Budget provides the basis for giving confidence for investment, innovation, progressive transformation and effective action.”

Further to the recommendations made by the Committee on Climate Change, the Paris COP 21 climate agreement set in place a framework for limiting global warming to well below 2^oC and to limit net global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by the end of this century.  The agreement also set an ambition to limit average global warming to 1.5^oC.

In the UK, the Climate Change Act (2008) sets an 80 per cent GHG emissions reduction for 2050 compared to 1990, with a rolling programme of three carbon budgets, each spanning a five-year period.