LOCAL MP SUPPORTS PRIME MINISTER’S CALL FOR GLOBAL ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE

November 2007

Prime Minister Gordon Brown lat week called for "vision and determination" from world leaders to rise to the challenge of climate change and that view was echoed by Ochil & South Perthshire MP Gordon Banks

Gordon Banks said – “The Prime Minister stressed the importance of building a global low carbon economy and pledged to put the UK at the forefront of the fight against climate change and its effects.

“Our actions over the next fifty years or so will be based upon how we rise to the challenge of Climate Change.”

The Prime Minister outlined measures from three Government bills - the Climate Change Bill, the Energy Bill and the Planning Bill - that will help the UK reduce its carbon emissions and move to greener energy sources.

On climate change, the Government is committed to a 60 percent reduction in emissions by 2050 and is consulting on the possibility of raising this to 80 percent.

The UK will also commit to increasing its use of renewable energy sources to meet its share of a 20 percent EU target by 2020.

Planning regulations will also have an impact, with all new homes required to be carbon neutral by 2016. Other steps include the convening of a supermarket forum aimed at cutting packaging waste and a new international funding framework to help developing nations switch to green technologies.

Outlining how households will be offered help with energy efficiency and moving towards a greener lifestyle

Mr Banks continued - “Every household will be offered a smart meter that will allow two way communication between the supplier and customer - giving more accurate bills and making it easier for people to generate their own energy through microgeneration.”

“The Government will also launch a network of advice centres in every region to provide easy access to an energy audit and the full range of discounted and free services available and give advice not only on energy efficiency but on microgeneration, water efficiency, recycling and greener travel.

“This represents the biggest improvement in home energy efficiency in our history. One household in three will be offered help over the next three years to cut their carbon footprint with potential savings of over £100 per year for a typical householder.”

And pointing to the opportunities afforded by green technology, the Prime Minister said that a low carbon economy could help create hundreds of thousands of UK jobs and a "vast new export market".

The Prime Minister looked ahead to next month's summit on climate change in Bali where world leaders will begin negotiations on a successor to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. He announced the publication of a document containing the principles which the Government believes should underpin any agreement, including a global rise in temperature of no more than two degrees centigrade and a 50 percent cut in global greenhouse emissions by 2050.

Mr Banks concluded –

"All of us have a part to play. Working apart we will surely fail. But working together I have no doubt that this is a challenge to which we will all rise.