Official report blows hole in Government's record on Carbon emissions

1.45.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 17th Mar 2008

The Liberal Democrats will today challenge the Environment Secretary in the House of Commons over an official report claiming that there have been no reductions in UK carbon dioxide emissions since 1990 if measured on the basis of 'environmental accounts'. A National Audit Office (NAO) report shows that if the UK's greenhouse gas emissions are measured on a comprehensive basis including items such as aviation, shipping and the contribution of UK residents' greenhouse gas emissions overseas, CO2 emissions have not fallen since 1990. The NAO report also finds that the UK will struggle to meet its carbon reduction targets by domestic action alone, and is likely to rely on buying in carbon reductions from other countries over the next decade.

Liberal Democrat Environment spokesperson Steve Webb said "This report blows a hole in the Government's record on reducing carbon emissions. Only last week an environment minister boasted to MPs about big falls in greenhouse gas emissions, yet when our environmental impact is measured properly it turns out that there has been no fall in CO2 since 1990. If the Government is planning to spend billions of pounds on buying in carbon reductions from overseas, this money would be better spent on investing in energy efficiency measures and renewable power here at home. That is the only long-term sustainable solution."