Alan Whitehead

Labour Party | Southampton Test

DRAFT CLIMATE CHANGE BILL JOINT COMMITTEE PUBLISHES REPORT WHITEHEAD CALLS ON GOVERNMENT TO HEED  RECOMMENDATIONS

Dr Alan Whitehead, MP for Southampton Test, has today welcomed the publication of the report by the Joint Committee on the Draft Climate Change Bill, of which he was a leading member, and called on the government to listen to their recommendations to make the Bill stronger and more effective in the fight against climate change.

The Joint Committee on the Draft Climate Change Bill was set up four months ago to consider the Draft Climate Change Bill, which was published in March this year. The Committee, which comprised Lords and MPs, met regularly to scrutinise the draft Bill, held hearings and took evidence from scientists, academics, environmentalists and politicians.

The Committee’s report welcomes the Draft Bill as “an extremely encouraging sign that the UK Government intends to take the issue of climate change seriously”. However, the target of a 60% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 is considered as potentially inadequate to prevent global temperatures rising above dangerous levels. The Committee also argue that there is no compelling reason for the 32% upper limit on carbon reductions and, as such, this should be removed. Concerns about the legal enforceability of the targets and carbon budgets are also noted, with the report calling for “a system of annual milestones and a compliance mechanism which we believe would create a strong legal framework, and require the Government immediately to make clear to Parliament and the public how any slippage in the targets and budgets will be seriously addressed.”

The Committee recommends that the legal duties of the Bill should be placed on the Prime Minister rather than the Secretary of State to reflect “the paramount importance of this legislation across the whole of Government”. The report also notes the absence of international shipping and aviation from the carbon budgets and highlights this as a weakness in the legislation. The Parliamentarians describe themselves as “somewhat surprised” that the Government intended to buy foreign carbon credits to meet 70% of its emission savings under the EU emissions trading scheme, as this could potentially postpone “the decarbonisation of the UK economy”, and calls for an “absolute cap” on their use.

Dr Whitehead said:

“I am proud of the work of the Committee, and the report that we have produced. We were examining a groundbreaking proposed Bill which, when passed, will be a first in legislating for guaranteed and effective action on climate change in any country in the world. It is important that this Bill is as good as it can be. During the sittings of the Committee we considered a huge amount of comprehensive, thought-provoking and wide-ranging evidence. While the Committee welcomed the Bill and the government’s commitment to the issue, weaknesses have been identified, particularly in the areas of carbon trading and legal enforceability of targets and budgets. I am confident that the government will play close attention to our recommendations and a robust and strong Climate Change Bill will be produced which can make a real impact on halting Climate Change.”

Dr Whitehead has been campaigning for action on Climate Change for 20 years. Firstly, as a Southampton Councillor, Dr Whitehead introduced and obtained funding for Southampton’s geothermal power plant after the government of the day had pulled the plug on funding for the project, which now provides clean, cheap energy and heating to much of Southampton. More recently, the key amendments of his Private Members Bill were incorporated into the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Bill and received Royal Assent last July. Dr Whitehead is also Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Renewable and Sustainable Energy Group, and Chair of All-Party Sustainable Waste Group. Dr Whitehead also took up the 25/5 challenge to cut his carbon emissions by 25% over 5 years, and through installing cavity wall insulation,  recycling or reusing, and energy saving light bulbs he reduced his carbon footprint by 8.2% in 2005-6.

Dr Whitehead added:

“The report calls on the government to best consider how widespread public support, understanding and consequent behaviour change can be achieved, as this is the only way to significantly reduce carbon emissions. Changing the attitudes of communities in Southampton and across the country is the key, and the Climate Change Bill can bring in measures to make this happen.”