. rock 'n' roll spirit   . branding   . web 2.0   . business   . innovation   . trends   . design

. trends and zeitgeist

. manifesto

. rocktails

>  Climate Change Bill : Britain takes the lead on global climate challenge

Richard Jones, iMagineer-in-Chief //  13 March 2007

It is official : the UK government has seen an Inconvenient Truth and been holidaying with progressive politicians in California and Iceland.  It has published a draft Climate Change Bill which promises binding targets to reduce carbon emissions, in a focused drive to hit the stretching 2050 environmental targets (emissions no more than 60% of that pumped out in 1990).  In other words, this is how UK will 'do its bit' to stabilise global warming - with a legislative framework and independent panel to give it teeth.

In a very New Labour move the Environment Secretary David Miliband found himself starring on YouTube to make the announcement.

The key points in the Climate Change Bill package:

• An independent panel will set a "carbon budget" for the government every five years.  Here's how our current emissions arise (courtesy of the BBC):

• An annual carbon budget has been rejected as it would operate over too short a period to account for climate variations.

• The government of the day (not necessarily Labour let us not forget...) could be subject to legal proceedings - judicial review - if it fails to implement measures to achieve the carbon budget.

• The Climate Change Bill is not prescriptive about how carbon targets should be achieved.  The accompanying announcements make it clear that - consistent with prevailing scientific and political opinion - there will be a variety of climate/carbon measures that must be combined to achieve the cumulative target.

• These measures will certainly include a focus on renewable energy and other alternative energy sources, energy-saving initiatives in the home and in business, and some "big decisions" on nuclear power.

• The aim is to have this enshrined in law by Easter 2008.

This is a bold statement of intent from Labour.  You could be hyper-critical and argue for annual targets, as the Conservatives and Lib Dems have.  Certainly honest and accurate annual emission tracking against the five year budget is essential.  There is a risk that the electoral cycle will mean that a five year target is "tomorrow's problem" for whichever political party happens to be in charge (a dangerous assumption with climate change).

The saving grave, perhaps, is that all the major political parties have rapidly elevated climate change to "priority status" in their election manifestos.  Aside from health and national security there is very little that now occupies political airtime as pervasively as climate change.  Politicians are acutely aware that the UK population (well, middle England at least) are increasingly sensitive to their duties as responsible global citizens.  Expect the temperature to rise yet further (sorry, a very poor and unoriginal pun...) when the Live Earth spectacle unfolds in July 2007.   So in theory it should not matter which is the incumbent political party :- they all see this as fundamental to their short term and long term election prospects.

Certainly, this is an issue that no political party with serious electoral aspirations can now ignore, which is an intriguing conundrum for Gordon Brown as he seeks to make the transition from economist to political figurehead without alienating either audience.  In all fairness, he has done a skilful and balanced job so far.  The Stern Review has set out a compelling economic case, corporate social responsibility is starting to take hold (see my earlier blog post on Tesco and M&S), and Brown's courting (and cajoling) of the domestic and international community on the green issue has been commendably forthright for someone still playing a high stakes game of political chess.

R.J.

Read more:

>  BBC coverage 'Binding' carbon targets proposed

>  MSN coverage "Draft British climate bill sets 2050 target"

>  Guardian coverage "Climate change bill is revolutionary, says Blair"

>  Official Live Earth site

>  David Miliband's blog : "An Environmental Bill of Rights?"

> Back to Rocktails Blog Home

File under:  Trends  |  Discuss  |  Customer Complaints

please drink responsibly ... and often

more from the rocktails archives....

February 2007

>  Pixelotto ... I've started so I'll finish (if it kills me)

>  U2 'Window In The Skies' mash up video masterpiece

>  Funky Business book ... now available in Speed Read

>  Doritos ad created by Joe Public for Superbowl

>  IBM : "Who's in charge here? In the world of digital convergence, it's the end user"

January 2007

>  "We-Think" - Charles Leadbetter book on "mass creativity" gets public preview

>  Pixelotto struggles ... still getting your daily clicks?

>  Carbon neutral bandwagon gathers pace ... Marks and Spencer and Tesco announce radical environmental plans

>  The longtail : saviour or distraction for iMagineers?

>  Apple targets mobiles and TV.  Nothing big then.

>  Meaning Inc.  Talent yearns to 'make a difference'

>  Big week ahead as Apple and Microsoft take to the stage

>  43 resolutions?  What are the chances...

December 2006

>  Top YouTube clips in 2006

>  Drugs and gardening

>  Bootleg Beatles break up for Christmas

>  FT picks out convergence as key 2007 technology trend

>  Bebo tops Google 2006 searches.  

>  Wikipedia guru squares up to Google

>  Beatles Love documentary on BBC

>  Rock 'n' Roll iMaginations launch party in the Big Apple

>  Lotto is new target for Million Dollar Homepage sensation

November 2006

>  How to write a "new economy" or business 2.0 book...

>  Flunking Creativity Course Blues #9

>  Or maybe that should be You 2.0?

>  Another rock 'n' roll dream dashed... vodka.com sold

>  The name's Vaio.  Sony Viao.  

>  Heard the one about lascivio, emineo and advancel?

>  Cool kids click into trend spotting

<  a d v e r t i s i n g  s p a c e  >

<  e y e b a l l  c a n d y  >

<  t h e  b l a c k n e s s  o f  t o m o r r o w >

<  a l l  m y  l o v i n g  >

typical site map  |  usual 'about us' guff  |  contact etc  |  beatles  |  get excited