Huhne pledges to halve UK carbon emissions

Environmental update - 19/5/11

Carbon emissions in the UK will be halved from 1990 levels by 2025, according to Energy Secretary Chris Huhne, alongside huge changes to the way in which energy is produced.

The new proposals follow advice received from the independent Committee on Climate Change, stating that budgets for lowering carbon emissions must be set out at least three budget periods in advance. Huhne’s pledge will put the UK on course to slash emissions by a whopping 80 per cent by the year 2050.

The progress will be judged by the government in the first three months of 2014, and, if the UK level of progress is not in line with that set by the EU Emissions Trading System, it will be altered alongside the UK budget to ensure it fits.

Energy Secretary Chris Huhne said, “[This] announcement will give investors the certainty they need to invest in clean energy. It puts Britain at the leading edge of a new global industrial transformation as well as making good our determination that this will be the greenest government ever.

“The Coalition Government has set a fourth carbon budget level, in line with the advice from the Committee on Climate Change, that sends a clear signal about our determination to transform Britain permanently into a low carbon economy,” he added.