Over the weekend, Cabinet ministers in the United Kingdom agreed on a climate policy package that calls for sweeping reductions in the country’s carbon emissions.
The agreement calls for the UK to cut 80 percent of emissions by 2050 and 50 percent by 2027 from 1990 levels, based on Committee on Climate Change (CCC) recommendations. The UK is already on its way to reducing carbon emissions 34 percent by 2020 and will need further action to meet the 2027 goal. This ambitious plan places the UK at the forefront of climate policy since it is the only nation that has domestic legally-binding commitments past 2020.
However, businesses are speaking out against the agreement, fearing that taxing carbon will result in job losses.
Still, the UK’s climate and energy secretary Chris Huhne addressed that issue in Parliament today and said that, “those who move the furthest and fastest get the best prizes,” insisting that industries will gain a competitive advantage worldwide.
This agreement did not receive much press outside of the UK, but it indeed has policy implications on an international scale.
“We are also sending a clear signal to the international community: that the UK is committed to a low carbon economy. This will help us reach agreement in Europe on moving to a 30 percent emissions reduction target – and build momentum toward a legally binding global climate change deal,” said Huhne.
On the one hand, the UK’s carbon budget can set a high standard and create an example for other nations to commit to reducing emissions while boosting the economy during recession recovery. The UK can then step up its negotiating power at the next Conference of Parties (COP) in Durban.
However, what is more likely to happen, as history has taught us, is that the UK and Europe will have strong domestic ambitions but lose power to negotiate with nations that are more reluctant to legally binding commitments. In the past two years prior to the negotiations, Europe said that it would be a leader in the next COP, but every year the spotlight and decision-making depends on a handful of nations, mainly the United States, China, India, Brazil, South Africa, and last year, Japan.
Another interesting point that Huhne made during his address is that the country will not rely mostly on carbon markets and offsets to reduce its carbon emissions. Instead, most of the reductions will come from an expansion in clean energy.
“We will aim to reduce emissions domestically as far as is practical and affordable. But we also intend to keep our carbon trading options open - to maintain maximum flexibility, and minimize costs in the medium-long term. Given the uncertainty of looking so far ahead, this is a pragmatic approach,” said Huhne.
This furthers the claim that since there is a lack of a global legally binding agreement on emissions reductions and since the future of the Kyoto Protocol is uncertain, countries will focus on switching to clean energy technologies to reduce emissions internally.
So while the UK may not gain negotiating power internationally, its ambitious climate policy still provides a symbol to other nations that it is serious about tackling climate change domestically. While the U.S. and China compete over who is “winning” the clean energy race, the UK is well on its way to switching to a clean energy economy.
