UK leads on climate change as Bill trio becomes law
Thursday 27 November 2008
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| Energy and Climate Change Minister Ed Miliband described setting the 80% targets in the Climate Change Act as "the easy bit". "Now the work really begins," he said. |
Three critical pieces of climate change and energy legislation formally became law yesterday, making the UK the first country in the world to legally bind itself to cutting greenhouse gases.
The Climate Change Bill, which legally commits the UK to meeting its 80% carbon reduction targets by 2050, the Planning Bill and the Energy Bill were all granted Royal Assent in Parliament yesterday evening.
It is expected that the three Acts will have a significant impact on the growth of renewable energy in the UK (see below).
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said: "The UK is the first country in the world to introduce a legally-binding framework to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Setting the 80% target was the easy part. Now the work really begins."
He continued: "The Energy and Planning Acts will be instrumental in reducing carbon emissions, removing barriers to enable industry to invest in important new infrastructure and giving individuals and communities the incentive to use energy more efficiently and generate their own heat and energy."
The Climate Change Act
Hailed as a "world class piece of legislation" by green groups, the Climate Change Bill was introduced to Parliament just over a year ago by Hilary Benn MP, now Secretary of State for the Environment.
It binds the UK to meeting its greenhouse gas emission targets as well as a series of five year ‘interim targets' which are set to take the UK's share of international aviation and shipping emissions into account.
The carbon reduction targets, as set out in the Act, are 26% by 2020 and 80% by 2050, compared to 1990 levels.
And, it has been reported that the first five-year climate change ‘budget' - required by the new Act - will be published by the Committee on Climate Change on 1 December.
More generally the Climate Change Act places a duty on the Government to assess the risk to the UK from the impacts of climate change, and requires the Committee on Climate Change, at present chaired by Lord Hunt, to advise on carbon emissions targets and to set the balance between domestic emissions and carbon credits.
Friends of the Earth's executive director Andy Atkins said: "The Climate Change Bill is a world class piece of legislation that should make the UK an international leader in tackling climate change.
"Ministers must now rapidly develop a low-carbon economy", he added. "Investing in green energy and cutting energy waste will also create exciting new business opportunity, many thousands of jobs and help lead Britain out of recession."
Energy Act 2008
The Energy Act was introduced last Autumn by the then Energy Minister John Hutton, and Lord Johns at the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
There is enough renewable energy caught up in the system to power over one and a half million homes and the current planning system cannot cope
According to Parliament, the Energy Act (2008) is driven "by the two long-term energy challenges faced by the UK: tackling climate change by reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and ensuring secure, clean and affordable energy."
Critically, it introduces feed-in tariffs for renewables projects of up to 5MW, as well as "strengthening" the Renewables Obligation.
It also creates a framework to enable private sector investment in carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects and gives the energy regulator Ofgem greater powers to run the offshore electricity licensing regime more effectively.
"Britain's renewable energy potential is enormous," said Andy Atkins of Friends of the Earth. "The inclusion of a feed in tariff in the Energy Bill will hopefully encourage homes, businesses and communities to install green energy systems and play a key role in cutting emissions. Ministers must ensure that payments are high enough to make this happen."
Planning Act
Introduced to Parliament last Autumn by Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Hazel Blears, the Planning Act is chiefly concerned with speeding up the planning process for large national infrastructure projects and the avoidance of "long running public enquiries".
The Act creates a new Infrastructure Planning Commission, which will make decisions on renewable energy projects over 50MW.
And it introduces new national policy statements that will including carbon reduction policy, that will be applied to all decisions taken.
Ms Blears said: "There is enough renewable energy caught up in the system to power over one and a half million homes and the current planning system cannot cope."
She added: "In the future, now that the Planning Bill has been given Royal Assent, we can begin to create the faster, fairer planning system we need to reduce our fossil fuel addiction and build up a new generation of renewable energy infrastructure sources like wind power. Many low-carbon power sources will now get faster approval and the country could save £300 million a year."
But Friends of the Earth did not welcome the Act, calling it "undemocratic" and likely to cause direct action reminiscent of 1980s road protests.
The green group's planning campaigner Dr Hugh Ellis said: "The Planning Bill is not strong enough to ensure that climate change is properly considered in decisions about major projects such as airports, roads and power stations."
Earlier this month the Planning and Energy Bill was given Royal Assent. It requires developers to source at least 10% of any new building's energy from renewable sources, implementing nationwide the 'Merton Rule', named after the sustainable planning policy of the London Borough of Merton.
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