Gordon Brown to lay out manifesto on climate change deal
- 00:01:47
- ITN
Gordon Brown to lay out manifesto on climate change deal
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is setting out Britain's ideas for moving climate negotiations forward. A pamphlet explaining why action needs to be taken, what can be done, the kind of measures the UK is planning and the benefits of tackling climate change is being published. UK officials believe an ambitious deal at a summit in Danish capital Copenhagen in December is achievable but the negotiating process between 192 countries under the auspices of the UN is extremely complex. The UK wants the deal to include commitments in three areas: emissions cuts by developed countries, reductions by developing countries compared with what they would emit without an agreement, and finance for climate change measures. The EU has pledged to cut its emissions by 20 per cent and raise that to 30 per cent by 2020 if a global deal is secured, while the US, whose emissions rose 16 per cent between 1990 and 2005, has put in an offer to return its greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by 2020. Japan and Russia have also put forward cuts on 1990 levels, seen as the "baseline year" for emissions, but UK negotiators feel many of the opening offers need to be more ambitious. While it is accepted that the big emerging economies such as China will see emissions rise in the short term, the growth in greenhouse gases from these countries is so huge it would be impossible to tackle climate change without them taking action. So the deal must also include more action by developing countries to curb their emissions growth, some of which may be financed by rich nations. Finance is an important part of the deal, and British negotiators want it to include a global carbon market which will "trade" emissions to ensure cuts are made where it is cheapest to do so. Mechanisms need to be found to fund efforts to prevent deforestation, which makes up nearly a fifth of global carbon emissions. And funding needs to be agreed to support developing countries reduce emissions and to help poor nations adapt to the impacts of climate change - for example by building flood defences or developing drought-resistant crops. Friends of the Earth's executive director, Andy Atkins, said the Government had shown "genuine leadership" by the organisation criticised the Government's backing of a trading or "offsetting" mechanism which would allow countries to buy carbon credits from abroad to cover their emissions reductions. After the Scottish Parliament passed a new climate law this week committing to emissions cuts of at least 42 per cent by 2020 - a higher figure than the UK Government's commitment - campaigners in Scotland called on other governments to follow suit.
ITN | June 26, 2009
