Britain Will No Longer Go It Alone On Green Targets

George Osborne has vowed that the UK will not lead the rest of Europe in its efforts to cut carbon emissions, raising the prospect that the country's carbon targets could be watered down if the EU does not agree to more ambitious emission reduction goals. In a potentially explosive intervention, Osborne insisted the government will only cut emissions in line with its neighbours in order to ensure British businesses are not put at a disadvantage. --James Murray, Business Green, 3 October 2011

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Mr Osborne made clear that he was ready to scrap the Government’s carbon emissions targets if the rest of the EU failed to be as ambitious as Britain. Government policy is to increase from 20 per cent to 30 per cent the cuts in emissions by 2020, based on 1990 levels. But Mr Osborne said that if by 2014 other EU governments were lagging behind, he would be ready to ditch the target. --Roland Watson and Robert Lea, The Times, 3 October 2011 The Global Warming Policy Foundation has welcomed the promise by Chancellor George Osborne that the government will no longer be bound by unilateral targets that cut CO2 emissions in Britain faster and deeper than other countries in Europe. --The Global Warming Policy Foundation, 4 October 2011

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According to the Climate Change Act, the government may amend the Act’s emissions target if it appears that there have been significant developments in European law or policy that make it appropriate to do so. Given the EU's manifest reluctance to follow Britain’s lead, the time has come to suspend all unilateral climate targets and amend them along EU lines. --Benny Peiser, 4 October 2011 At the Lib Dem conference Energy Secretary Chris Huhne denied to me in a BBC interview (and then to the conference) that the various green measures of which he is an enthusiast was helping drive up energy bills. Indeed he claimed that his various energy-saving measures would actually cut bills over time. That is clearly not the Chancellor's view. I know from private briefings that the Chancellor does not quite share Mr Huhne's green enthusiasm. Mr Osborne wants more realistic targets. --Andrew Neil, BBC News, 4 October 2011 There was a softening of the war against carbon, which threatens to make British manufacturing uncompetitive by hiking costs. But the chancellor’s message – that carbon reduction would not take place any faster than in the rest of Europe – suffered from incorrect benchmarking. The UK’s rivals when it comes to the location of manufacturing activity are not in Europe – they are in emerging markets. It might have sounded like a pro-growth statement to the Treasury (which spends more and more time dealing with Brussels) but to UK Plc (which spends its time dealing with the world) it means nothing. –Allister Heath, City A.M., 4 October 2011 Despite government hopes that manufacturing will lead the UK recovery, there are fears some energy-intensive industries may be forced to leave the UK as prices rocket. --Gerry Northam, BBC News, 4 October 2011 European Union plans to make oil refiners pay for carbon emissions from 2013 could accelerate European refinery closures and encourage them to relocate outside the EU to avoid higher operating costs that could run into millions of euros a year. --The Economic Times of India, 3 October 2011

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