Brown gives environment speech following Climate Change report from the UN

4.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 19th Nov 2007

Climate change

In a speech today, Gordon Brown said there will be a "green hotline" to advise people on what they can do to cut their impact on the environment. Mr Brown also said the UK's emission target of a 60% cut by 2050 could be increased to 80%, and that he would also seek the end of one-use plastic bags. On Saturday a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change described how a warming world would threaten billions of people with thirst and malnutrition, endanger more than half of wildlife species with extinction and initiate a melting of the Greenland ice cap that could raise global sea levels by more than 22ft. The IPCC's report was based on 29,000 observations taken around the world.

Chris Huhne, Liberal Democrat environment spokesperson said "It's good news that the Government will not renege on its EU renewable energy targets. But we need to look at the small print to see whether Mr Brown is really prepared to meet 20% of our energy from renewables without counting nuclear power as the French are doing. Brown's admission that the 60% reduction in carbon emissions may not be enough is welcome but long overdue. The target must be increased to at least 80% to reflect the most up to date science. The IPCC's report highlights the urgency with which the meetings in Bali must now address the global crisis of climate change. The industrial countries have to take the lead because they are responsible for 70 per cent of the carbon that has been emitted, and every extra ounce of carbon has a life of 100 years in the atmosphere."