Key Facts
- Kyoto/Burden Sharing Agreement requirement to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5% by 2008-12 versus 1990 base year
- National goal of a 20% CO2emission reduction by 2010 versus 1990
- Energy White Paper ambition for a 60% cut in carbon emissions by 2050
- Real progress on the path to 60% by 2020
The 2003 UK Government's Energy White Paper set an aspiration for the UK to reduce carbon emissions by 60% and create a low carbon economy by 2050, accepting the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP) of a need to stabilise greenhouse gas emissions.
In the near term, agreements following the Kyoto Protocol require the UK to attain a greenhouse gas emission reduction of 12.5% on average in 2008-2012 compared to 1990 levels. In addition, the UK Government has set its own goal for CO2emission reduction at 20% below the 1990 level by 2010. The existing UK Climate Change Programme combines both regulatory and obligation based measures with fiscal and support measures to place the UK on a path to reduce carbon emissions by 60% by 2050 through a combination of energy efficiency in the short term and renewables in the long term. The Government published in 2006 a review of the UK Climate Change Programme. This was followed in July 2006 by the publication of the Government’s Energy Review, a major review of progress in achieving the UK’s four long term goals for energy policy:
- To put the UK on a path to cut our carbon dioxide emissions by some 60% by about 2050, with real progress by 2020;
- To maintain reliable energy supplies;
- To promote competitive markets in the UK and beyond, helping to raise the rate of sustainable economic growth and to improve our productivity; and
- To ensure that every home is adequately and affordably heated.
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