A group of over 100 MPs from across the political spectrum have now written to the Prime Minister calling for her to back the introduction of a new net zero emission target for 2050. The revelation came today in an op-ed in The Times jointly penned by Conservative MP and leading Brexit campaigner Sir Bernard Jenkin and Labour’s Alex Sobel, in which they argued action on climate change is one of the few areas of cross-party agreement within Parliament. The MPs argue there are compelling environmental, economic, and security reasons for backing a bolder long term emission target that left and right and remain and leave camps can support. “We are united in desiring a cleaner and safer future for our children and grandchildren,” Jenkin and Sobel write. “On that, if little else, we can definitely agree.” The letter was orchestrated by Conservative MP Simon Clarke and was originally launched in June with the backing of a handful of leading MPs. It has now been signed by 109 MPs and 51 peers. Further MPs could add their names to the letter in the coming months and members of the public are being urged to invite them to do so. It is backed by a raft of parliamentarians, including the Green Party’s Caroline Lucas, Lib Dem leader Vince Cable and former leader Tim Farron, former Labour leader Ed Miliband, and a host of high profile select committee chairs, leading backbenchers, and former Ministers such as Mary Creagh, Sarah Wollaston, Zac Goldsmith, Tim Loughton, Jo Swinson, Ed Davey, Andrew Mitchell, Frank Field, and Jon Cruddas. The UK has a legally binding target to cut greenhouse gas emissions 80 per cent by 2050 under the Climate Change Act and the government announced earlier this year that it would ask the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) to review whether more ambitious long term targets are required for mid-century.
Business Green 30th July 2018 read more »
Edie 31st July 2018 read more »
Members of the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) have criticised the Government for “relying on past successes” towards tackling climate change, after a damning report revealed that clean energy investment in the UK fell by 56% last year. The Government published its response to the EAC’s Green Finance: Mobilising Investment in Clean Energy and Sustainable Development report on Monday (30 July), which showed a “dramatic and worrying collapse” in investment since 2015, according to the EAC. The EAC report, published in May, noted that while figures from the International Energy Agency showed that global investment fell by 7% year-on-year in 2017, the decrease was far steeper in the UK – particularly for funding decarbonisation projects for transport, domestic heating and industry. In its response to the report, the Government insisted that the nation “is a world leader on clean growth” with a “globally renowned financial services sector” – claims which have been criticised by EAC chair Mary Creagh.
Edie 31st July 2018 read more »
