A presentation held by Ms Mette Kahlin, British Embassy Stockholm, at a seminar in the Swedish parliament on the 6th of march 2013

1. UK Climate Change Act
Mette Kahlin
British Embassy Stockholm
2013

2. Background to the
Climate Change Act
• Attitudes in UK towards climate change
started to shift
• Pressure from the public / in Parliament /
NGO campaigns – 45,000 letters by end
• Stern Review – cheaper to act early
• Growing political consensus in UK on need
for exceptional action to tackle climate
change

3. Objectives of the
Climate Change Act
To create a clear and coherent framework to enable the UK to meet domestic
and international commitments
To provide greater clarity and certainty for UK industry, households, and
individuals to effectively plan for and invest in a low carbon economy
To ensure that the UK was well placed to take advantage of the significant
business opportunities
To help the UK towards being better adapted to the impacts of unavoidable
climate change
Demonstrate leadership by example – commitments well beyond the UK’s
current international obligations

4. Climate Change Act 2008:
a clear legal framework
Ambitious targets to reduce emissions -Requiring us to cut emissions by at least 80%
by 2050 relative to 1990 levels, and by at least 34% by 2020.
Binding carbon budgets - Five-year carbon budgets set three budget periods ahead; first ones
already set in legislation cover period 2008-2027. Set the trajectory towards the 2020 and 2050 targets, and ensure that
cumulative emissions are limited.
A clear accountability framework - A requirement for Government to publish “policies and
proposals” for meeting the carbon budgets. The independent Committee on Climate Change to advise Government on
level of budgets and how to meet them, and to scrutinise delivery through annual progress reports to parliament.

5. Carbon budgets
Going beyond
A concrete reporting Genuine financial
international
cycle set through UK consequences if
commitments and
law budgets aren’t met
ensuring their delivery
• Setting limits on • Higher level of
emissions for each five • Climate Change Act ambition than our
year period means carbon budgets international
• Set fifteen years in are legally binding commitments require
advance to give long- • Any shortfall must be • Clear framework
term clarity met by purchase of enshrined in domestic
• Regular reporting to international credits law for delivering
Parliament, and • For a significant economy-wide
scrutiny by the shortfall, this could run emissions cuts
Committee on Climate to £billions
Change

6. Carbon budgets
CB 1 CB 2
(MtCO2e) CB 3(2018-2022) CB4 (2023 – 2027)
(2008-2012) (2013-2017)
Carbon Budgets – overall level
3,018 2,782 2,544 1950
Percentage reductions on 1990
baseline 22% 28% 34% - 50%+
Since 1990, UK emissions had fallen by 26% (2012 figure), - we are therefore
on track to meet the fourth carbon budget period (2023-2027).
All sectors will contribute to savings

7. Public accountability &
transparency in law
Each carbon budget is:
Adviced on by the Climate Change Committee -> Proposed by Government -> approved
by Parliament
Statutory obligations:
Report on policies and proposals to meet the budget and indicative annual
ranges (CC Act section 12) – due once a budget has been set.
Annual statement of emissions (section 16) – due by 31 March in year x+2
Final statement for budgetary period (section 18) – due by 31 May in the second
year after the end of each budgetary period
In addition:
Government response to Committee on Climate Change’s reports on progress
(section 37) – due by 15 October each year

8. The Carbon Plan
The Carbon Plan sets out how:
UK will achieve decarbonisation within the
framework of our energy policy: to make the
transition to a low carbon economy while
maintaining energy security, and minimising
costs to consumers, particularly those in
poorer households.

9. The Carbon Plan specified policies
and proposals to meet the first four
carbon budgets
Projected non-traded sector emissions savings by policy – residential sector (MtCO2e)
Specific,
quantified
emissions
savings by
policy out to
2022
Aggregate non-traded emissions under illustrative
scenarios for the fourth carbon budget
Scenario 1 implies, by 2030:
• 8.6 million low carbon heat
A scenario installations
based • Average new car emissions
approach 60gCO2/Km
2023-2027
• 3.7 million solid wall insulations
2023-2030

10. Measurement, reporting and verification
of the Carbon Plan
Carbon plan sets out what each government department is
doing to contribute to this agenda. Effectively a ‘to do’ list for
government activity on climate change.
Contains specific milestones and deadlines providing for both
internal accountability and public transparency
Updates on progress against deadlines within the Plan will be
published quarterly on the No.10 website
AND.... wider
Government Policy –
Impact Assessments
must include significant
carbon impacts

11. Departmental accountability
A department is accountable for:
Delivery of its carbon reduction policies, and/or
Activities that support or enable carbon reduction
Assessing carbon emissions from non-climate change policies

12. Immediate benefits of moving to a
low carbon economy
Considerable potential for growth – Low carbon goods and services market is
Green growth worth over £3 trillion / yr and projected to grow at over 4% for the next 5 years
H
Help reduce reliance on fossil fuels and reduce susceptibility to energy price
Energy security volatility. A 30% target would reduce the EU’s imports of both gas and oil by
approximately 1% saving €5.5bn in oil imports and €3.6bn in gas imports by 2020
Improving health and reducing health care costs through reduced air pollution.
Air quality Estimated benefit of €10bn annually by 2020, as a result of reduced mortality and
morbidity resulting from better air quality
EU leadership Helping to restore EU leadership in international climate change negotiations

13. Addressing concerns
Concerns Response
Risks to competitiveness are limited to a small
1. Minimising additional costs for business and number of energy intensive sectors . We need to
thus avoiding carbon leakage. work together to ensure these industries can
prosper in a low carbon world.
Need to act now to avoid the risk of ‘lock in’ The
2. Low carbon is more expensive. sooner we start to invest in large-scale green
infrastructure, the less we will pay overall.
The EU 2050 low carbon roadmap shows that we
need to act to be on the cost effective trajectory.
3. Higher targets will lead to deindustrialisation.
Heavy industry has a vital role to play in moving to
low carbon but it must be efficient.

14. Thank you and Questions
mette.kahlin@fco.gov.uk