GW66
Copenhagen
Calling
Spencer
Fitz-Gibbon
As Caroline Lucas told the New Statesman recently, “If you were told the plane you were about to board had a 50:50 chance of crashing, would you still take the flight? Probably not. So you might question why we in the EU are playing a form of Russian roulette with our future, by accepting a target for reducing emissions that scientists say would give us only a 50:50 chance of avoiding catastrophic climate change.”
That’s how serious the Copenhagen climate summit in December is. Unfortunately the current EU target is a derisory 20% cut by 2020, grudgingly moving to 30% in the event of an international agreement.
At Copenhagen green campaigners generally will be demanding that EU leaders agree to cut emissions by 40% by 2020 at the very least. The Green Party’s Manifesto for a Sustainable Society argues that the UK must make 90% cuts in all greenhouse gases by 2030, including serious year-on-year cuts starting right now – and of course we have signed up to the 10:10 initiative, encouraging every individual, every business and every organisation in the UK to commit to a 10% cut in their emissions during 2010. It’s important that the richer countries take such a stance, not least to recognise our greater historical responsibility for the greenhouse effect.
As Caroline Lucas told the New Statesman recently, “If you were told the plane you were about to board had a 50:50 chance of crashing, would you still take the flight? Probably not. So you might question why we in the EU are playing a form of Russian roulette with our future, by accepting a target for reducing emissions that scientists say would give us only a 50:50 chance of avoiding catastrophic climate change.”
That’s how serious the Copenhagen climate summit in December is. Unfortunately the current EU target is a derisory 20% cut by 2020, grudgingly moving to 30% in the event of an international agreement.
At Copenhagen green campaigners generally will be demanding that EU leaders agree to cut emissions by 40% by 2020 at the very least. The Green Party’s Manifesto for a Sustainable Society argues that the UK must make 90% cuts in all greenhouse gases by 2030, including serious year-on-year cuts starting right now – and of course we have signed up to the 10:10 initiative, encouraging every individual, every business and every organisation in the UK to commit to a 10% cut in their emissions during 2010. It’s important that the richer countries take such a stance, not least to recognise our greater historical responsibility for the greenhouse effect.
But this is one “cuts” agenda that will actually bring about positive change. Moving to a post-carbon economy will have tremendous social and economic benefits. A strategy to insulate homes and improve energy efficiency will cut people’s fuel bills and create jobs. A low-carbon transport strategy will mean huge improvements in public transport. Replacing polluting fossil fuel energy with renewable energy will create more jobs per megawatt, helping us to tackle the recession and the climate crisis at the same time.
Greens all over the country will keep making this argument – because, while international agreement on the right targets in Copenhagen is a crucial battle, ultimately the war against catastrophic climate change will be won by good policy based on practical solutions that make life better for people while protecting the planet.
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