The Government has committed the UK to a greenhouse gas emissions cut of 80% on 1990 levels by 2050 in a bid to tackle climate change.
Climate Change and Energy Secretary, Ed Miliband said the current 60% targets would be replaced in the Climate Change Bill and that the Government accepted all the recommendations of the Committee on Climate Change.
The Committee said the tougher target would be "challenging but feasible", and should cover all the major greenhouse gases - not just carbon dioxide - and all sectors of the UK economy, including shipping and aviation. However, the target does not include emissions from international aviation and shipping.
Moreover, Lib Dem environment spokesman, Steve Webb said Mr Miliband's decision not to include aviation and shipping in the 80% target made a mockery of his commitments. He commented, "It's like telling everyone you're going on a calorie controlled diet but not counting cream cakes. As we saw when the Government gave the green light for Stansted expansion, there is actually a huge gap between what ministers say on climate change and what they actually do."
An amendment including aviation in the target, backed by the Lib Dems, Conservatives and Labour backbenchers to overthrow the Government, was put down in Parliament. However, in the face of defeat, a new amendment has now been put down by Labour MP Elliot Morley, which strengthens the Bill and agrees to take international aviation into account when setting five yearly budgets to meet the target.
However, because there is not yet an agreed way to allocate emissions from international aviation to different countries, they cannot be included in the target. Therefore while the consideration of aviation will make the target more challenging and has been welcomed by green campaigners, it should, nonetheless, be included for the targets to really be effective.
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