The UK government has decided not to weaken its pledge to cut country greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50pc over the next decade, the government's Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) today said.
The decision corresponds with the UK's Committee on Climate Change's(CCC) recommendations and ends a long-running disagreement between Decc and the UK treasury, which wanted to weaken the target.
The country's fourth carbon budget, which covers the 2023-27 period, will remain at its existing level of 1.95bn t CO2 equivalent. This equates to a 50pc GHG emissions reduction compared with 1990 levels by 2025.
The decision to leave the budget unchanged demonstrates the UK's commitment to its climate change target of an 80pc reduction in emissions by 2050, according to UK secretary of state for energy and climate change Ed Davey. It also "reflects the views of the vast majority of businesses, investors and environmental groups", he said in a written statement to parliament.
Retaining the budget at its existing level provides certainty for businesses and investors by demonstrating the government's commitment to the UK's long-term decarbonisation goals, Davey said. But he reiterated the government's commitment to protect UK business competitiveness, as is illustrated by its support for the country's energy-intensive industries in the 2014 budget.
The UK's CO2 budget applies to both EU emissions trading scheme (ETS) and non-EU ETS sectors, whereas in the EU only EU ETS sectors are regulated. Davey conceded that this could result in a "misalignment" that could place a disproportionate burden on the UK's non-EU ETS industries. And the immediate remedial action was not required. "Our current estimate is that UK and EU levels of ambition for the sector are likely to be extremely close over the period," Davey said.
When the fourth carbon budget was set in 2011, the government undertook to review it in 2014 to determine whether the UK's domestic commitments placed it on a different emissions reduction trajectory compared with other EU member states under the EU ETS.
In its review, the CCC paid particular attention to the Climate Change Act's requirements and the emissions reduction pathway that this would require, but found that the evidence does not support amending the budget.
"Any revision now would be premature, especially given the EU's efforts to agree a domestic 40pc GHG reduction target for 2030 by October this year based on European Commission proposals published in January," Davey said.
"Today's decision cements the UK's place as a global leader in combating climate change, which will allow us to play a central role in delivering a global deal to combat climate change at the end of 2015," he said.
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