Climate Change — new sense of urgency — rejected — 8 May 2007 at 18:46

The majority of MPs voted against the motion, which read:^[1]

• This House
• calls on the Government to set targets for carbon emissions informed by science and not political convenience which will help to hold global warming to within two degrees of pre-industrial levels;
• recognises that the best current estimate is that this requires stabilisation at between 400 and 450 parts per million of carbon dioxide equivalent in the atmosphere; and
• urges Ministers to inject a new sense of urgency into efforts at home by setting out an annual action plan to curb the UK's own carbon emissions,
• - establishing a climate change committee of the Cabinet to ensure joined up government,
• - tackling quickly the most rapidly growing emissions in the transport sector by a more steeply graduated vehicle excise duty and a rebasing of air passenger duty onto the emissions of each flight, offset by other tax cuts,
• - speeding up the effort to curb the waste of energy and the high emissions from buildings not just by raising thermal efficiency requirements in new homes but also by renovating existing homes,
• - changing the incentives on energy companies so that they make more money by saving and not selling more energy,
• - providing comprehensive insulation packages funded mainly by energy mortgages repayable through utility bills and
• - setting an example by ensuring that all future buildings on the Government's own estate are built to the highest energy efficiency standards.

In its place, an alternative motion was proposed, which read:^[2]

• This House
• welcomes publication of the draft Climate Change Bill, which will make the UK the first country in the world to establish a long term legal framework for managing the transition to a low carbon economy, setting ambitious binding targets to cut carbon emissions by 26% to 32% from the 1990 level by 2020 and at least 60% by 2050, which can be revised in light of significant developments in international policy and climate science, and establishing an independent Committee on Climate Change to advise on setting statutory five year carbon budgets and to report to Parliament annually on progress;
• further welcomes the Government's comprehensive approach to reducing emissions from all sectors of the economy and the proposals in the energy review to cut carbon emissions by up to a further 25 million tonnes of carbon per year by 2020;
• recognises that home energy use for heating, lighting and appliances accounts for more than a quarter of domestic UK carbon emissions;
• applauds the Government's proposals to improve building standards so that from 2016 all new housing developments must be zero carbon;
• recognises the Government's commitment to improving the energy efficiency of existing homes and tackling fuel poverty through Warm Front and the Energy Efficiency Commitment;
• welcomes the Budget 2007 report statement that by the end of the next decade all householders will have been offered help to introduce energy efficiency measures; and
• looks forward to further development of policies in this area.

which passed without a further division. Only one Conservative MP cast a vote.

• [1] Christopher Huhne MP (Libdem), House of Commons, 8 July 2007
• [2] Ian Pearson MP (Lab), House of Commons, 8 May 2007

Debate in Parliament | Source |