London Press Service
Informs
UK'S GLOBAL WARMING CHALLENGE HEATS UP
Climate change is the greatest environmental challenge facing the world today. Rising global temperatures will bring changes in weather patterns, rising sea levels and increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.
Most scientists agree that temperatures will rise by between two and six degrees Celsius this century, caused mainly by carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels for power and transport, putting millions of lives at risk from floods and famines.
Global warming is a challenge for business, government and individuals alike.
The way to reduce and reverse global warming is to cut the use of fuels that emit carbon when burned.
Ever since scientists with the British Antarctic Survey discovered the hole in the ozone layer, the United Kingdom government has taken the threat of global warming seriously. In 1997, the UK subscribed to the Kyoto Protocol binding developed countries to reduce emissions of the six main greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2).
The Kyoto Protocol was signed by 141 countries in 1999, with the United States declining to join the agreement. Some developing countries, such as India and China, have ratified the protocol but are not required to reduce carbon emissions under the agreement, despite their large populations.
The UK has established a domestic goal of a 20 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions below 1990 levels by 2010, and 12.5 per cent reductions in other greenhouse gases. These targets far exceed the ones set by Kyoto.
And in a new draft Climate Change Bill, the UK government has just announced world-leading plans for an ambitious 60 per cent cut in carbon emissions by 2050. The new law, if passed by parliament, would commit future governments to legally binding targets.
Any business or public body would have a “cap” for the amount of carbon dioxide it was allowed to emit and it would have to use low-carbon technology or buy carbon credits on the open market if it wanted to use more power than its allocation.
Hot topic: the problems arising from global warming are a challenge
for business, government, and individuals alike.
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said recently that there is a “tremendous opportunity” for action on climate change. Following a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mr. Blair said that G8 leaders had a chance to create a new framework for when the Kyoto agreement ends in 2012.
The UK government commissions a wide range of scientific research on climate change and funds programmes on climate modelling and work on impacts and adaptation. It funds a number of programmes to encourage the reduction of emissions such as the Climate Change Levy, Climate Change Allowances and Energy Trading Schemes, as well as the Carbon Trust and the Energy Saving Trust.
Improving energy efficiency is a vital part of the government’s strategy. In April 2001, the government introduced a climate change levy on energy suppliers that aims to encourage businesses to use energy more efficiently. Money from the tax is channeled into such measures as the development of renewable energy, including solar, wind and biomass production. The aim was to provide five per cent of UK electricity supplies by the end of 2003 and 10 per cent by 2010.
London’s 7.5 million people will be urged to turn off lights, switch to low-energy lightbulbs and not to leave TVs, computers and any equipment on stand-by after use. Householders will be offered big subsidies to insulate their homes that account for 40 per cent of carbon emissions.
One company that is keen to promote its green credentials is Virgin Fuels, a new branch of the Virgin group, headed by Sir Richard Branson. Branson has committed 1.6 billion pounds to tackle climate change. He is pledging all profits from his Virgin air and rail interests over the next 10 years to combating rising global temperatures. Much of the investment will focus on biofuels, an alternative to oil-based fuels and made from plants.
One UK organisation that has been working for some time on rainfall and surface pressure monitoring projects with scientists from China and India is the Hadley Centre for Climate Change, part of the UK’s Meteorological Office.
China is the world’s second-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after the US. This has prompted the Chinese government’s growing emphasis on the trading of carbon credits.
These credits create a market for reducing greenhouse emissions by giving a monetary value to the cost of polluting the air. A credit gives the owner the right to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide. Credits can be exchanged between businesses or bought and sold in international markets at the market price.
China was the most popular location for projects generating carbon credits and took a 63 per cent share of the market for selling credits in 2006. India generated 12 per cent of credits.
Sustainable energy is also another area that the UK excels in, as showcased by companies such as Garrad Hassan, one of the country’s leading independent consultancies in grid-connected wind energy.
By Angela Singleton |