Renowned British economist Lord Stern has said the European Union must take up an ambitious climate change target because it would boost certainty for investors in the United Kingdom and Europe
He has said the EU should set a goal to halve emissions from 1990 to 2030, in order to help build confidence among businesses and other countries that it is serious about limiting climate change risks.
Lord Stern, former World Bank chief economist and author of a landmark 2006 report on the costs of climate change, also said setting a strong carbon reduction target was more pressing for the EU than specific technology targets for renewable energy and energy efficiency.
He was speaking to the media ahead of this week’s launch of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) fifth assessment.
Lord Stern warned that “vacillation” by the UK government on its commitment to cutting carbon was very damaging to investment in low carbon technologies.
“I understand the UK is pushing very strongly, and rightly so for a 50 per cent reduction on 1990-2030 on greenhouse emissions.
“That’s very important, and I trust that in so doing it will move quickly to confirm the fourth carbon budget.
“Both of these things would restore confidence in where the EU is going and they would go some way to meeting the problem of lack of credibility in the climate policies in the European Union,” he added.
British environmental news website BusinessGreen reports Britain has adopted targets to halve carbon emissions by 2025 and put the UK on course for a 60 per cent decrease by 2030.
However, these are due to be reviewed next year, and could be altered if the UK finds it is out of sync with ambition in Brussels.
“So in that context, the EU deciding soon to go to 50 per cent reductions by 2030 would be a major contribution to the overall clarity,” said Lord Stern.
The European Commission now intends to present concrete legislative proposals on its 2030 climate and energy package by the end of year, and has already floated plans for a 40 per cent carbon reduction, plus a 30 per cent share of renewables in the energy mix.
Lordt Stern maintained a 40 per cent reduction would be too modest, given that the bloc is already on track to meet its target of cutting emissions 20 per cent by 2020, in part thanks to the economic crisis, which has reduced output.
“If you take the sluggishness of this extended period, targets which were set some time ago, look modest because emissions are closely related to output. So 40 per cent would look and be quite modest, and wouldn’t be much of acceleration down the path we need to go.”
Lord Stern said he also agreed with Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey, who is opposed to fresh EU renewable energy and energy efficiency targets.
BusinessGreen reports green businesses are lobbying for a legally binding 2030 target on renewable energy, warning that the current investment momentum will be lost without a longer term target in line with the long investment cycles in the energy sector.
However, Lord Stern said an overall carbon target was more important than technology-specific targets.
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