Tories: Annual targets would force govt to act

Tuesday, 13, Mar 2007 12:00

The Conservatives claim yearly targets for cutting emissions would prevent governments from handing responsibility on to a future executive.

The climate change bill published today proposes five year carbon budgets to set out the expected cuts in emissions to reach the target of a 60 per cent reduction by 2050.

Shadow environment secretary Peter Ainsworth said: "We would like to see a system of rolling annual rate of change targets - rather than targets set for five year periods - to ensure that the UK remains on track towards a low carbon economy and to ensure true accountability.

"There is a danger that the five year approach will enable responsibility for failure to be shunted on from one government to another."

The bill proposes an independent committee to oversee governments' progress towards targets but Mr Ainsworth said the committee should also set the targets.

He concluded: "The government is right to consult over its proposals and to seek a wide range of views before moving to legislation. It is essential to get the framework right, and we look forward to a constructive debate."