Sir,
When the Kyoto Protocol was first negotiated, in 1997, climate change was viewed very differently to the way it is now. Then countries were hesitant about taking action because of uncertainty over the science and the long term impacts. Now, eleven years on, the existence, scale and danger of climate change is no longer in doubt and the global community has a responsibility to act. We have come a long way since the Protocol was signed, but the further we go the more obvious the scale of the task becomes.
The nature and impact of climate change means that the only effective response to it must be global. The actions of individual states, however praiseworthy, will not be enough, we must work together, and for this reason I wholeheartedly welcome the view expressed in the article by Danish Premier Anders Fogh Rasmussen that Europe must take the lead internationally in acting to tackle climate change.
Europe has in many ways been at the forefront, so far, demonstrating that a low carbon economy can be synonymous with high economic growth, and setting itself ambitious targets that provide an example for others to follow. The Commission’s 2020 climate change package provides the EU with a solid framework for combating climate change and provides impetus for the deployment of a wide range of technologies, including renewables, sustainable biofuels, and carbon capture and storage. Here in the UK, this will present a significant challenge, because although we have a strong technical and engineering background, we have historically been dependent on fossil fuel power generation and therefore have a long way to go on increasing the amount of renewable energy we generate to meet our targets. However, we are ready and willing to step up to the challenge and show other countries, who will also have to adapt their energy sectors, that it can be done.
The UK has shown strong commitment to tackling both the causes and consequences of climate change and is leading the way in the shift to a low carbon economy with the introduction of a Climate Change Bill, making the reduction of emissions a statutory duty. Central to this vision for moving to a low carbon economy is a fully functioning global carbon market. The EU emissions trading system is the first of its kind in the world and is a truly groundbreaking climate change mitigation tool. Phase II of the scheme started this year and has already evolved extensively beyond the first Phase. The Commission is now in the process of reviewing the scheme to improve it’s functioning in future phases, and the UK is supportive of proposals for greater auctioning of allowances, inclusion of more gases and linking to other systems outside of Europe. I am greatly encouraged to see similar trading systems emerging around the world in Australia, New Zealand and some groups of US states as more and more countries recognise that to not act will mean being left behind.
But leading by example is, of course, just the beginning. As Premier Rasmussen says, we must continue to push international negotiations forward, and the next couple of years will be critical. In December 2009 Copenhagen will see the negotiation of the next phase of the international community’s response to climate change and Europe’s unity, collaboration and vision will be critical in achieving a framework that is effective, fair and far-reaching.
With the devastating effects of climate change beginning to be understood, and in many cases seen, across the globe, Europe, along with the rest of the world, cannot afford to be complacent. For us to be successful in tackling climate change we must all work together, and take the process begun by Kyoto to a new level. Europe leads the way now, but the next few years will prove a test of that leadership.