Climate change bill: Towards a low carbon future

Consultation on the government's draft climate change bill closes on June 12. The government hailed its draft climate change bill as an international leader on environmental concerns and a blue print that would take the UK into a low carbon economy. Key targets included reducing the UK's emissions by 60 per cent by 2050, with a legally binding reduction of 26 per cent to 32 per cent by 2020.

Launching the bill, the environment minister David Miliband said government must lead, both in the UK and internationally, to reduce emissions and curb climate change. But he insisted the public, industry and parliament must all be involved to ensure the bill "really delivers". Politics.co.uk represents some of the key voices shaping the bill and working to this end.

Mr Miliband said the bill represents a "vision" of how the UK can move to a low-carbon economy, including investment in low carbon fuels and technologies and an onus on suppliers to reduce energy demand and improve efficiency.

Shadow environment secretary Greg Barker warns the government the bill does not go far enough. Writing for politics.co.uk, Mr Barker argues for a more ambitious bill, pointing out scientific evidence now suggests a 60 per cent cut in emissions will not go far enough.

Writing exclusively for politics.co.uk, the Liberal Democrat's environment spokesman Chris Huhne warns the bill has been weakened by a lack of annual targets, while the climate change committee is open to political interference. With climate change a pressing priority, he calls on the government to move beyond rhetoric and into real action.

Moreover, the Green party criticised the targets themselves, warning they will not be sufficient to curb climate change. Writing for politics.co.uk, the Green party principal speaker Dr Derek Wall says binding cuts of six to nine per cent a year in greenhouse gas emissions are needed to stabilise carbon levels.