Huhne Calls on Government to take responsibility at Climate Change talks

3.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Sat 15th Dec 2007

Climate Change

The European Union has threatened to boycott a summit in the US of the top greenhouse gas emitting nations, accusing Washington of blocking goals for emissions cuts during UN talks in Bali. The EU and the US are accusing each other of holding up a deal in Bali, which is seeking to agree terms for two years of negotiations on a pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, the current plan for cutting greenhouse gases.

Chris Huhne Liberal Democrat Environment spokesperson "The EU is right to get tough on America's narrow minded refusal to accept targets. If the talks do fail, the UK Government must also take responsibility. The Climate Change Bill could have given us the moral authority to argue for necessary and ambitious targets. Unfortunately ministers have squandered this by stubbornly refusing to commit to a 40% reduction in emissions by 2020, and an 80% reduction by 2050. To bring the US and Canada on board, the UK must stop dithering and get real on domestic targets."