UK’s first carbon budget ‘inadequate’ and ‘disappointing’

Christian Aid said today that it is ‘disappointed’ with the lack of ambition shown by the government in its first ever carbon budget.

The social justice charity said the government has thrown away its chance to demonstrate international leadership in the fight against climate change.

“Producing the first national carbon budget in the world was a huge opportunity for the UK to prove its determination to tackle climate change and provide leadership for other rich countries,” said Alison Doig, Christian Aid’s climate change policy expert.

Doig added that the government’s target of cutting carbon emissions 34% by 2020 will not be enough to stop global warming from ‘devastating the lives of people in developing countries’.

“This is not leadership,” Doig raged. “It is not even adequate.

“Industrialised countries must commit to the urgent, deep emissions cuts that are vital if the world is to avoid catastrophe.”

Calculations by EcoEquity show that the government’s carbon budget will put the world on course for a temperature rise of 3C, if other industrialised countries follow suit.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), any rise above 2C would cause a global catastrophe with widespread suffering.

Recent research by the UK’s Met Office found that a rise of 2C would only give the world a 50:50 chance of avoiding a major disaster.

Despite it’s gloom on the carbon budget, Christian Aid welcomed the government’s decision to protect the UK’s aid budget