In three vital and interrelated areas – climate, development and nature – the next UK government could play a significant role in driving progress at a critical time.

It needs to start office on day one with a plan that positions the UK ahead of key summits on those issues – summits that will have a critical bearing on people, planet, and future generations. The time to start preparing is now.

The NATO summit begins within days of the UK general election now planned for July 4. The year ends with G20 meetings in Brazil, a global biodiversity summit (COP16) in Colombia, and the COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan. A new UK government could play an important role in rebuilding trust and make a positive contribution to the world by adopting far-sighted positions on climate, development and nature. 

On climate, the next government could immediately signal its intent by comprehensively stepping up its efforts to meet its own national climate commitments, after a period of drift and uncertainty. There is no more powerful message from the UK to the cause of global climate action than the country decisively implementing its own pledges, through concerted action on green energy, transport, infrastructure and land use.  

Progress at home needs to be matched in real time by leadership on the international stage in negotiating an appropriately ambitious and credible ‘new collective quantified goal’ on climate finance.

Rich nations meet $100bn climate finance goal – two years late

A strong finance outcome at COP29 would acknowledge the historic responsibility for climate change from some of the wealthiest nations, including the UK, while ensuring that all countries play their full part in mobilising the flows of public as well as private finance needed to transition to a 1.5 degree-aligned, resilient and nature-positive economy. Successful resolution of the finance negotiations this year in Baku would open up the possibility for a more ambitious round of climate action en route to COP30 in Belem, Brazil in November 2025. 

Development finance

On international development, the UK can move fast by upholding and restoring its development finance commitments, including to some of the world’s poorest people; by updating its toolkit to meet today’s interlinked development, climate and nature challenges; and by using all of the means at its disposal (including debt relief, multilateral development bank reform, and capital increases) to drive global financial architecture reform and a successful replenishment of the International Development Association 21 later this year.  

The UK can also lead the way in pressing for international support to be integrated and aligned behind countries’ own inclusive, green development plans; and by making the case for multilateral trade reform aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement.  

In addition, the UK has a particular responsibility to resume a global leadership role on debt relief, a role it last played in the early 2000s during the era of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. It could take legal and other action to unstick debt cancellation processes for some of the most indebted countries, by bringing private creditors to the table and brokering concerted action on debt relief at the G20.  

Global billionaires tax to fight climate change, hunger rises up political agenda

The UK should lend its political support to the Brazilian government’s laudable G20 initiative on tax reform, as well as its important work on climate and hunger; and support other promising efforts to raise revenue for development, such as levies on shipping and aviation. The next finance minister should consider the UK’s global role on these issues as being as centrally important to their legacy as issues of national economics; and ensure that the UK drives global progress on new flows of finance for climate and development, at the scale set out by economists Nick Stern and Vera Songwe in their 2022 report.   

Protect and restore nature

On nature, the UK should redouble its actions to protect and restore nature and biodiversity at home, including through pursuing more sustainable farming and land management. At the same time, the UK should use its influence and finance to drive global progress on the nature agenda, both in terrestrial ecosystems as well as the ocean. The goal here is to protect at least 30% of the planet by 2030 and to mobilise major flows of public and private finance to support countries, local communities and Indigenous Peoples to protect their ecosystems.

At the UN biodiversity conference in Colombia in October, the UK could assume a critical role on the global stage by making the case for the protection and restoration of natural ecosystems as fundamental to human life, to addressing the climate crisis, and as one of the most effective forms of pro-poor development assistance.   

At a deeply troubling and fractured time in multilateral affairs, revitalised global leadership from the next UK government on climate, development and nature could make a very constructive contribution to securing the better, fairer, more sustainable and more peaceful world which is still within our grasp to secure.   

 Editor’s note: The latest BBC analysis of opinion polls ahead of the July 4 general election in the UK shows the opposition Labour Party with 45% of voter support, while the ruling Conservative Party trails with 24%.

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The UK coalition government is legally bound to be the country’s “greenest ever”, according to Deputy PM Nick Clegg.

The Conservatives and Clegg’s Liberal Democrats have been painted as being at loggerheads on several climate and energy issues since the election.

Prime Minister David Cameron famously “hugged a husky” in the Arctic to bolster his green credentials in the election build up and a promise to form the “greenest government ever” has hung over its head since.

Asked during an evidence session with the Liaision Committee whether the Government would live up to the claim Clegg said “we have no choice” and said he would ensure that existing promises were not watered down in the future.

Deputy PM Nick Clegg says the Climate Change Act binds the government to its claim to be the greenest ever (Source: Flickr/WEF)

The 2008 Climate Change Act, which established the framework for the country’s landmark carbon budget will ensure that the government can’t slide back on its promises.

When asked about the perception that the two parties in power were warring on green issues he admitted there was some conflict despite tip-toeing carefully through his answer.

“There is a view represented in government that seems to suggest we can’t afford to delay recovery by setting new decarbonisation targets for the economy…we need £110bn of new investment for electricity infrastructure,” said Clegg.

“It’s a massive opportunity to create hundreds of thousands of jobs, boost university research and rejuvenate the economy. It’s a fundamental debate about whether green economy is an impediment to or an ingredient of economic growth. I know the Prime Minister agrees with me.”

Clegg did not extend this to the Chancellor George Osborne who is linked to the decline in investment in low carbon energy despite interventions from business organisations, financial institutions and members of his own party.

New energy and environment ministers John Hayes and Owen Paterson are both sceptical on climate change and the merits of renewable energy.

Clegg also told the panel of MPs that the Brazilian government had “pushed for a pre-arranged agreement” at the Rio+20 that was prepared before the arrival of high-level delegations.

Clegg claimed he had pressed, unsuccessfully, for the country’s Foreign Ministry to leave some issues on the table.

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The EU will significantly increase its climate change targets, according to the UK’s Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Davey.

Addressing a committee of MPs for an official review of the Doha round of UN talks, Davey said the UK’s energy strategy was predicated on the EU target to reduce carbon emissions by 20% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels, being revised upwards to at least 30%.

“We are working on the assumption that the EU will increase its emission targets, the coalition agreement says we will push for 30% and there are already proposals on the table that will get Europe very close to that 30% target,” said Davey.

UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Davey is fully expecting an increase in ambition from the EU. (Source: Flickr/Combined Heat & Power Association)

“The EU has met its 20% target, the energy efficiency directive is legally binding and meets we will exceed that, the possibility of reforms in the EU ETS would get us pretty close to 30% as well as other work on Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that would increase the EU ambition,” he told a panel of MPs yesterday.

The likely timing of this increase would appear to be 2014 when the second commitment period (CP2) of the Kyoto Protocol, signed in Doha earlier this month, will undergo a review. This clause allows those signing up to legally binding cuts to increase their commitments.

“The EU and others discussed this review clause so I don’t know what the final [EU] emission reductions will be but I would hope we will be able to raise those levels significantly by 2014,” said Davey.

“We’re still committed to 20% but we were also keen on a review, sometimes referred to in the talks as a ‘ratchet up clause’ in 2014. Some countries, the vulnerable small island states in particular were concerned that an eight-year commitment period at the current levels of ambition would mean those low levels of emission reductions would be locked in.”

Davey also said that while it would have been ideal to have seen more countries involved in the new round of the Kyoto Protocol, it is vital that the system has been maintained, even at the cost of lower climate ambition.

“Clearly we would have liked more [participation] and there are some notable issues. But we didn’t go to Doha thinking there would be a range of new countries to join CP2, the aim was keeping a regime that has rules, measurements and processes, alive,” said Davey.

“That is quite important as we negotiate the 2015 deal. We need to make sure those rules continue so we get some benefit from it and so that it is the model for the new regime. The critical thing for the new regime is that it applies to all countries.”

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One of the UK’s leading low carbon entrepreneurs says the sector is in turmoil because of a lack of policy certainty from central government.

Ecotricity owner Dale Vince says the continued economic crisis combined with changes to incentives for solar and wind power has left green energy companies in the UK demoralised and frustrated.

“I have no hope or confidence in this government at all on green issues,” he told RTCC.

“Things are being lobbed at us by the government: overnight slashes in the solar FiT (Feed in tariffs), big and then small solar; a cut in the wind ROC (Renewables Obligation Certificate) – you don’t know what’s coming next with these people.

“There must have been ten consultations in the past twelve months in the energy market that we’ve been taking part in. It’s exhausting.”

Vince set up Ecotricity in 1996 - it now has over 65,000 customers, generating energy from the wind and sun

Chancellor George Osborne’s move in July to make the UK more attractive to oil and gas companies by offering £500m tax breaks left many in the renewables sector despairing – especially after they had been told money to incentivise wind and solar projects was drying up.

Vince was one of many energy leaders who signed a letter from the Renewable Energy Association to Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on August 9 calling for an end to ‘constant reviews and policy uncertainty’.

And he says that on the back of the current economic crisis, it is becoming an increasingly difficult environment in which to operate.

“You’ve got the credit crunch – it’s still with us, it’s never been harder to borrow money to build a wind farm,” he said.

“It was easier back in the original days of the credit crunch, back in 2008. What was it, £200 billion of quantitative easing that’s gone on so far? It’s not making its way to the front line.

“We’ve almost ground to a halt in terms of being able to build because there’s just no money out there.”

To get round the lack of liquidity in the market, Ecotricity launched two rounds of ‘Ecobonds‘ in order to generate capital, one in 2010 and one in 2011, with another planned this year.

Between them they have raised nearly £20 million – paying for 18 wind turbines and a ‘sun park’ outside Cardiff.

And while Vince says he’s happy with the investment they generated – the second was twice oversubscribed – he argues that public interest in green energy will only be sparked when fuel bills go through the roof.

“What we require – and it’s coming – are hideous costs of energy, which will at some point make green energy cheaper than the alternatives, and then it will just become a huge thing.

“People will be doing it, big power companies will be doing it, not because it’s the right thing to do environmentally but because it’s imperative economically. But that’s coming anyway.”

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The UK has fallen behind its European and OECD counterparts on climate action during the past 20 years, according to new figures from the country’s Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Offshore wind is expected to drive future growth in renewable energy for the UK. Five of the world's ten largest offshore wind farms are in the UK. (Source: Vattenfall)

The country sources just under 3% of its primary energy (including transport, heating and electricity generation) from renewable sources placing it 32 out of the 34 OECD member countries.

The UK has set a target of 15% by 2020.

Despite growth of clean energy for electricity running 2.6 times faster than the average EU growth rate, just 6.7% of its consumed electricity is from renewable sources. The EU average is 18.2%.

The UK’s Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has estimated that a total of 30% by 2020 is achievable with offshore wind developments expected to deliver much of this supply.

There were some signs of improvement however.

Between 1990-2009 the volume of greenhouse gasses (GHG) emitted for each barrel of oil (or equivalent) used fell by 20%. The ONS attributes most of these cuts to the switch from coal to gas.

During 1990-1999 the UK was fourth out of the 27 EU members for cutting emissions of GHG per unit of energy generated. This was despite the country’s GDP growing substantially in this period.

However, from 2000-2009, the country was overtaken by the majority of the EU coming 23rd out of 27.

The IEA recently praised the UK’s climate and energy policies but warned that it would have to remain diligent in order to ensure it met all its targets.

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Replacing planned new coal plants with gas can have a positive effect on climate action if leaks remain below 3.2%. (Source: Flickr/ZacharyJensen)

Leaks of methane from the gas supply chain must be limited to 1% in order for it to make a positive contribution to carbon emissions cuts, according to new research co-authored by the Environmental Defence Fund.

A number of governments including the US and the UK, have committed to replace coal with gas for energy production in order to cut their emissions. There are also calls for gas to replace liquid fuels for vehicles.

The direct CO2 emissions from coal are higher than gas by a ratio of roughly 3:2.

However, the additional impact on the atmosphere from leaked methane during the extraction, production and transportation of gas is difficult to determine.

“Failing to reduce methane leaks has the potential to eliminate much, if not all, of the greenhouse gas advantage of natural gas over coal,” said Steven Hamburg, EDF’s chief scientist and co-author of the paper.

One is the magic number

The study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) examined a number of factors to consider when calculating this impact and suggested acceptable leakage levels under a number of different scenarios.

“One percent is the magic number,” said Hamburg. “If we want natural gas to be an accepted part of a strategy for achieving energy independence and moving to a clean energy future, it’s critical that industry, regulators and other stakeholders work together to quantify the existing methane leakage rate and commit to reducing it to one percent or below if, as expected, the leakage is currently higher than that.”

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) currently uses a rate of 2.4% from the gas well to a city.

The study found that if accurate, with this level new gas plants are more beneficial to the environment than new coal plants. Leaks must remain below 3.2% for this to remain true.

However, for transportation, cuts as high as two thirds of current leakage rates must be made for a switch to gas to have a net beneficial impact.

Methane has 21 times stronger warming effect than CO2 during a 100 year time period. As a result leaks of methane can offset the benefits of burning cleaner fuel.

Recently discovered shale gas deposits in a number of countries including Poland, US, China and the UK have led to calls for a “dash to gas”.

A lack of data over leakage rates in the extraction of shale gas, which is obtained by fracturing the rock it is held in, makes it difficult at present to pass judgement on the fuel’s carbon footprint.

Separate concerns over the “fracking” process triggering earthquakes and polluting local water supplies have stalled its development in many countries.

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Green Party Mayoral candidate Jenny Jones would set London a zero-waste target.

As part of RTCC’s London Week, the leading candidates in the city’s Mayoral election have explained to us how they would cut emissions and make London a greener place to live.

Labour candidate and former Mayor Ken Livingstone will set out his stall tomorrow, with Brian Paddick and Boris Johnson making their case later this week.

First Jenny Jones of the Green Party explains how planet friendly solutions can solve the problems of a major industrialised city.

Tackling environmental problems and ensuring a greener future for London is at the heart of everything we want to do.

Where elected, Green politicians have relentlessly pushed an environmentally focused agenda in their local area in an attempt to tackle the big problems we face.

In London, our assembly members have consistently pressured the Mayor on issues such as air pollution and cycling safety.

We want to see a cleaner, greener, fairer London and we will stop at nothing to achieve it.

Zero-waste city

For too long the Government and the Mayor Boris Johnson haven’t grasped how serious threats like climate change and air pollution are to London’s future.

Their investments in solutions to the problems have been tiny and too slow. In contrast the Greens would tackle these problems head on.

We will aim to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 90%, reduce our ecological footprint by two thirds and make London a zero waste city by 2030.

We wouldn’t just set ambitious targets however; we would take practical steps towards achieving them.

For example we want to develop major local energy schemes for public sector “anchors” like housing estates, hospitals, prisons and universities, and work with neighbouring businesses to plug into these new energy networks.

We also want to see boroughs collect separated recyclables and food waste on a weekly basis.

We want all new buses to be low emission hybrid, hydrogen or electric models and for the entire fleet to be run on this technology by 2016.

Moreover, we want to ensure the low emission zone is properly enforced and would introduce a new Very Low Emission Zone in central London that excludes all but the cleanest vehicles.

Open spaces

London's parks and open spaces should be at the heart of resident's lives says the Green Party. (Source: Flickr/Ewan-M)

Green spaces and wildlife habitats are often thought of as nice-to-have after thoughts by politicians but are hugely valued by Londoners who crave space to breathe.

They are also a place where we can learn how to protect the environment and adapt to climate change instead of living in a way that destroys the planet.

London is nothing without its open spaces and we want to ensure that all Londoners are within reach of parks, play spaces and animal habitats. We would also work with schools, youth groups and disability organisations to promote access to nature.

We also recognise that there are green solutions to many of the other huge problems that we face.

That is why green ideas are ingrained in our economic, housing and health strategies. We see the creation of a greener London as an ideology, not just a buzzword.

We wouldn’t bet our economic recovery on plans to build environmentally destructive new airports that cater for global businesses. Instead we would invest in local infrastructure and concentrate on developing London’s local industries.

We recognise that housing isn’t affordable if the energy bills top £1000 a year, so we want to ensure all homes have low running costs with high environmental standards.

Furthermore we believe that tackling this city’s scary levels of air pollution would have drastic effects on people’s health.

This next year will see London showcased on an international stage.

We know that City Hall alone cannot solve all of the problems we face but with greens in power, we can make our global city a leading example of environmental self-sufficiency.

VIDEO: Jenny Jones speech at the Green Party Conference

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The USA should stop hiding behind China on climate change, according to former UK Environment Minister John Gummer.

Speaking to RTCC, Mr Gummer, now known as Lord Deben, praised the efforts of China as well as South Africa, Brazil and India but called for their domestic efforts to be complemented with continued development of the UN sponsored international climate negotiations.

“Proportionally, China is arguably doing more to combat climate change than any other country,” said Lord Deben.

Through his work as President of GLOBE International, a network of environment legislators, Lord Deben has helped develop domestic and bi-lateral climate action in several countries, including China, India and South Africa.

“The fact is, China believes in climate change and is trying to find a way to shoulder a proper proportion of the burden internationally. And, internally it is finding ways to deal with the very serious effects of climate change.

“In general, the US doesn’t believe in climate change and it isn’t trying to find ways to solve the problems internationally. It is trying to find a way that it doesn’t get blamed for any failure,” said the former Tory Minister.

Lord Deben also accused the US of hiding behind statistics about the scale of Chinese emissions and using them as an excuse for inaction.

“There are all sorts of faults with that. First of all it isn’t up to China to go first [on emission cuts] because the Americans have contributed more to climate change and have a huge historic responsibility.

“Secondly, the US is producing wildly more pollution per head than China.

“Thirdly, much of the pollution in China is on the behalf of the US because they exported their [manufacturing] jobs to China. Yet they haven’t reduced their own emissions,” said Lord Deben.

Data from the World Bank for 2008 estimates that carbon emissions per capita in the US are 17.9 metric tonnes compared to just 5.3 for China.

The US frequently points to the total magnitude of China’s emissions as an argument that it should commit to make cuts first.

A Norwegian study in 2009 compared the countries’ consumption-based emissions. Rather than being linked to the emissions made within a specific territory, they are based on the carbon related to the raw material, manufacture and shipping of the products consumed in a country.

This method puts Chinese emissions at 3.1 metric tonnes for China compared to 29 metric tonnes in the US.

A call in the UK for emissions reporting to switch to the consumption-based model was rejected earlier this month, with Climate Change Minister Greg Barker claiming that the change would make an international climate deal “nigh-on impossible to negotiate”.

The change in system would swing the UK’s emission cuts of 28% between 1990 and 2009 to an increase of 20% between 1990 and 2008.

Former UNFCCC chief Michael Zammit Cutajar described the US-China dynamic as “the G2” of climate negotiations.

Speaking last week at an event organised by RTCC, Cutajar said the US position on climate change had “morphed into a sub-plot of the position US-China position on the geopolitical stage”.

Contact the author of this story @rtcc_john or jp@rtcc.org

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The UNFCCC requested submissions from NGOs as part of the Durban Platform. (Source: Flickr/UNFCCC)

RTCC held a workshop today to examine how best to raise ambition at the UN climate change negotiations.

Representatives of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), PwC, former FCO climate negotiators and selected journalists met at the Camco headquarters to discuss  three questions around the theme of ambition.

Article 8 of the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action calls for nations and official observers to provide suggestions on how to raise the level of ambition at future talks.

As an NGO, RTCC will submit a proposal to the UNFCCC before the deadline at the end of February. A draft summary of the day’s discussions can be found below.

How can we mobilise capital from the public/private sector?

-Capital is linked directly to investor confidence and perceived risk. Stability and clarity of policy can provide this

-The framework for this investment requires standardised emissions reporting and monitoring in order to support stable policies

-The Green Climate Fund could be used to reduce risk for private investors

-It’s not the private sector’s role to save the world, it’s job is to make money so opportunities must be clearly presented

How can we recognise reward and promote efforts at national level?

-The market will present the most tangible rewards

-Compelling domestic case studies strengthen your negotiating position and encourage others to pursue the same benefits

-Financial rewards or incentives could create a new layer of antagonism

-Achievements need to be put in context, principle of common but differentiated responsibilities applies to achievements

-Danger that a PR war could develop and skew debate in line with resources of each nation

-Is the UNFCCC the best forum for this promotion/what alternative is there?

Is it time to raise our adaptation ambitions and if so, how?

-The urgent need for adaptation is growing, even in countries with low climate vulnerability such as the UK

-Building climate resilience into all aspect of policy from planning to procurement is best route to adaptation

-Flood protection is the best example of adaptation and presents a clear example of Lord Stern’s suggestion that we spend now to save later, it is but one example and broaden the scope and realise that it is a much larger issue

-Investment opportunities are less tangible than with mitigation but they do exist and should be highlighted, can it be linked to other existing forms of development aid

-There is a huge role for the insurance industry to play, engagement with them should be increased

-Adaptation is also about behavioural change, which can be instilled through schools

A final submission will be handed to the UNFCCC in the coming weeks and made available through RTCC and the Secretariat’s own website. If you have any ideas how the level of ambition could be raised, share them at facebook.com/climatechangenews.com.

Special thanks to Camco for hosting the RTCC workshop and to all those who contributed to the session.

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Shadow Energy and Climate Change Minister Caroline Flint called for more support for the low carbon economy (Source: Labour)

The British Chancellor is among those in government with an “active contempt” for environmental protection that leaves the UK at risk of missing out on the transition to a low-carbon economy, according to the Labour Party’s shadow energy and climate change minister.

“The likes of the present chancellor not only believe that the green agenda is bad for business, jobs and growth, but actively revel in their contempt for environmental protection,” said Caroline Flint, Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.

“George Osborne said in his autumn statement: ‘Environmental measures and the transition to a low carbon economy was a burden to British businesses’. Throwaway remarks have real market consequences. They create uncertainty and make the UK a less attractive place to invest,” she claimed at an Aldersgate Group debate in London.

“According to this view environmental policies are a luxury that can only be afforded when times are good and it is an argument that I believe we should firmly reject,” said Flint.

She went on to say that the government’s acceptance of her own party’s climate change targets set during its time in power, had created cross-party consensus.

“That clarity of direction underpins the attractiveness of the UK to green investment,” she said. “Today the question marks over the government’s green credentials have proliferated and they weigh genuine scepticism over whether the government is sincere in its support of that consensus and open to green business.”

Flint called on the government, and specifically the new Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Davey, to stop the recent slide in UK investment in green growth and renewable energy.

“My department is already implementing bold and ambitious reforms – like electricity market reform and the Green Deal – to unlock private investment, drive innovation and build a resilient, green, competitive economy. It’s now my job to see those through,” said Davey at his first public engagement in his new role.

Flint said these reforms were not enough however.

“The stakes could not be higher for the UK in the green arms race. Yet we’re falling behind,” she said.

“Brazil and India are not just acting to responding to climate change but are putting in place the production sectors to respond to the inevitable economic demands of this new era.”

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Ed Davey has replaced Chris Huhne as the UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Source: Flickr/DECC)

UK greenhouse gas emissions climbed by 3.1% from 2009 to 2010, but remain lower than pre-recession levels.

The latest figures released by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) today, show that although emission levels rose, they have not offset the dramatic 8.7% decrease from 2008 to 2009.

While most sectors’ emissions remained at a similar level, residential use and energy supply both increased by 15.1% and 2.8% respectively.

“Emissions were up in 2010 because of the exceptionally cold weather and greater use of fossil fuels,” said Ed Davey, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.

“One year won’t knock the UK off meeting its long term emission reduction targets, but it serves to underline the importance of the Coalition’s policies for insulating homes to cut bills and emissions and moving to greener alternative forms of energy.”

The six-month shutdown of the country’s largest nuclear reactor meant additional gas and coal was used to provide electricity in its place.

The sensitivity of residential energy use to the weather emphasises the contribution that home energy efficiency can make, shining the spotlight in the Government’s Green Deal energy efficiency loan scheme set to launch in October 2012.

Despite the latest figures, the UK’s emissions were 30.9% lower than the 1990 totals. The country has a binding commitment through the EU to reduce them by 20% by 2020 and a self-imposed target of 35% for the same period.

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UK Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said there was no pressure to change the current method of emissions reporting (Source: DECC)

A switch to consumption-based emissions reporting could jeopardise the UN climate negotiations, according to UK Climate Change Minister Greg Barker.

Giving evidence to a Select Committee hearing yesterday, Barker said that the future was with territorial reporting, based on the location of emissions, rather than consumption based methods which incorporate the carbon used to create a nation’s imports.

This system is judged to be fairer as it allocates emissions to the developed economies that consume goods, rather than penalising less developed countries that manufacture them.

“It would be nigh on impossible to negotiate an emissions reduction treaty on the basis of consumption based emissions,” said Barker. “An attempt to do that could delay an effective solution on climate change for years or even decades.”

The UN climate change agency, the EU and the Kyoto Protocol all use territorial based emissions as the basis of their carbon accounting.

“It would also be impossible to get base international reporting on embedded emissions figures because they are so hard to calculate accurately and verify. It would certainly be impossible to agree a method internationally.”

Barker added that: “There is no meaningful pressure from other countries for any change.”

UK emissions ‘rose’

The difference in the results of the two methods was highlighted by the Committee’s chair Tim Yeo MP.

He pointed out that under territorial reporting Britain had cuts its emissions by 28% between 1990 and 2009. The consumption based data however, showed an increase of 20% between 1990 and 2008.

Barker said that consumption based accounting provided “useful information” but reiterated that it should not form the basis for international negotiations.

“Greg Barker is right to say that the UN climate framework should continue to be based on the well-established Kyoto accounting framework, and that trying to shift to consumption based reporting would be a distraction,” said Keith Allot, head of climate change policy at WWF.

“However, he is in danger of throwing out the baby with the bathwater – consumption-based reporting can be used alongside the existing production-based approach to improve national policy making and to guard against perverse consequences.”

RELATED VIDEO: UK Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker offers his analysis of COP17 talks in Durban.

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The Defra report calls for more flood and coastal defences such as the Thames Flood Barrier (Source: Flickr/LeonardoEastHastings)

The net effects of climate change in the UK will be negative, however there will be some benefits, according to a new report.

The first UK Climate Change Risk Assessment released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) identifies several benefits such as fewer deaths in winter and the possibility to grow new crops.

However it also identifies a significant increase in the cost of flooding, a rise in water scarcity and indirect damage from climate change effects overseas.

The ten main findings of the report are below:

1. Body of evidence

The latest evidence shows that the UK will have higher average temperatures in summer and winter. There will be more rainfall in the winter and less in the summer.

2. Flooding risk to increase

Increased flood events are the single greatest tangible financial cost of climate change in the UK. The report estimates that the current annual flood damage bill of £1.3 billion will soar. The projected cost for England and Wales alone will reach £2.1-12 billion by the 2080s. These figures only account for property damage.

3. Already vulnerable to extreme weather

The UK has already shown itself to be vulnerable to extreme weather events. The DEFRA reports states that even if you don’t take climate change into account, more action is needed to protect against heavy rains, storms and extreme temperatures.

4. Less winter deaths, more heatwave deaths

Deaths in related to the cold during winter will fall by 3900-24,000 by the 2050s. However, premature deaths in the summer will increase by 580-5900 by the same period.

5. Sensitive ecosystems

Ecosystem health will not fair as well as human health. While some species will benefit, many more will be negatively affected.

Seasonal drought and new diseases will impact forestry and agriculture negatively (Source: Flickr/JoostJBannerIJMuiden)

6. Not a drop to drink

Water resources will be under increasing pressure in the UK, by 2050s, 27-59 million people will live in areas suffering from water scarcity. Water efficiency action will be required.

7. New opportunities for business and agriculture

Again, while new doors open, they won’t outweigh the damage. If successful water management can be implemented there will be opportunities for new crop growth. Businesses will find new markets for products that directly serve mitigation and adaptation.

8. Indirect effects

Larger climate risks internationally will have indirect consequences for the UK such as supply chain interference, global health and political stability

9. Flexibility required

Evidence sufficient to accept identify a range of possible outcomes to inform policies. Policymakers must allow a degree of flexibility

10. More work needed

Significant gaps in evidence still exist. Defra says further work is required to understand the relationships between different climate risks and pressures such as population growth and land-use change.

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The Thames Hub project would cost an estimated £50 billion (Source: Foster and Partners)

The £50bn plan to build a new transport hub in the Thames estuary moved a step closer today with the project set to be included in the formal aviation consultation process this spring.

The project, commonly referred to as “Boris Island” after its vocal supporter, London Mayor Boris Johnson, was announced in November last year.

It would include a new international airport, freight rail links between ports and major cities and a new tunnel under the River Thames that would also incorporate tidal power generation.

UK Transport Secretary Justine Greening is set to publish the government’s aviation strategy later this year and speculation is growing that the new Thames hub is preferred to the expansion of existing airports.

The government has already said it will not add an additional runway at Heathrow, the country’s largest existing airport.

“If we are to establish a modern transport and energy infrastructure in Britain for this century and beyond, we need to recapture the foresight and political courage of our 19th century forebears and draw on our traditions of engineering, design and landscape,” said Lord Foster, the architect behind the proposals during the launch of the plans.

The Thames hub project has been criticised by green groups concerned both with local impacts and its role in the Government’s wider climate change strategy.

“Any development of this type, on this scale in the Thames Estuary would be an irreversible act of vandalism on a grand scale,” said Chris Corrigan, RSPB director for South East England. “We should be investing in our environment and tackling climate change, building foundations which future generations will thank us for.”

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