Climate Change legislation
The Climate Change Act
On the 26 November 2008, UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act, the world's first legally binding framework to tackle climate change. The main aspects of the Climate Change Act are as follows:
Greenhouse gas emissions through action in the UK and abroad are to be reduced by at least 34 per cent by 2020, against a 1990 baseline.
Greenhouse gas emissions through action in the UK and abroad are to be reduced by at least 80 per cent by 2050, against a 1990 baseline.
A carbon budgeting system will be instigated, capping emissions over five year periods, with three budgets set at a time. The first three carbon budgets were set out in April 2009, with the first running from 2008-2012. The carbon budgeting system will help the UK set out a plan to effectively meet its 2050 target.
The Copenhagen Climate Accord
World leaders agreed The Copenhagen Climate Accord at the UN Climate Change Summit in December 2009.
The Accord 'recognises' that global temperature rises should be kept below 2ºC, which is widely accepted as the threshold beyond which 'dangerous climate change' begins.
Although the Accord did not specify the exact amount by which developed countries must cut their greenhouse gas emissions, it is hoped a more detailed agreement will be finalised in 2010.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (opens in a new window) recommend that to avoid more than a 2ºC temperature rise and corresponding 'dangerous climate change,' developed countries should cut emissions by at least 25 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020, and that global emissions must begin to decline by 2020 at the latest.