Government is taking wrong approach to reducing emissions

1.17.57pm UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 24th Jan 2008

The European Union's executive adopted landmark proposals today that will make the 27-nation bloc a world leader in the fight against climate change. The European Commission approved detailed plans to cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions by one-fifth and set each EU state individual targets to produce one-fifth of all power from renewable sources like the wind and sun by 2020. Another goal is to ensure the bloc's energy security as remaining fossils fuels become concentrated among fewer nations.

Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson Steve Webb said "The Government is spending far too much time on grand energy schemes which will not be up and running for many years, when what we need is urgent change. Ministers should focus on micro-generation and energy efficiency schemes which could lead to big reductions in emissions now. The package announced today will significantly strengthen the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme. The switch to auctioning permits and the introduction of firm targets outside the scope of the scheme is to be welcomed."