United Kingdom Climate Change Programme
Encyclopedia
The United Kingdom's
Climate Change Programme was launched in November 2000 by the British government in response to its commitment agreed at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
(UNCED). The 2000 programme was updated in March 2006 following a review launched in September 2004.
In 2008, the UK was the world's 9th greatest producer of man-made carbon emissions, producing around 1.8% of the global total generated from fossil fuel
s.
The aims of the programme are not only to cut all greenhouse gas
emissions by the agreed 12.5% from 1990 levels in the period 2008 to 2012 (the international Kyoto commitment), but to go beyond this by cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 20% from 1990 levels by 2010.
When the original programme was published in 2000, it confirmed that UK emissions were already forecast to be around 15% lower by 2010.
As of March 2006, government projections were in line with the official energy policy of the United Kingdom
) so that, by 2010, the UK will have reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by about 15-18% below 1990 levels, thus missing the government's internal target but achieving its Kyoto Protocol
target, with a projected reduction of emissions from the basket of all greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide) of about 23-25% from 1990 levels.
On or before 31 September following the RO year (1 Apr - 31 Mar) Suppliers can meet their Renewables Obligation by:
When a supplier meets all or part of its obligation by paying the buy-out price for each MWh of its obligation not discharged by the redemption of ROCs, the money is put into a holding account called the buy-out fund. The buy-out fund is recycled before 1 November to those electricity suppliers who presented ROCs against their Renewables Obligation. This 'recycling' is distributed equally for each ROC redeemed, those suppliers who did not redeem any ROCs will receive no 'recycling' from the buy-out fund.
The renewables obligation also makes requirements about how the electricity can be generated. An example is that the co-firing of biomass with coal is to be phased out - and will not be eligible for Renewable Obligation Certificates after 2016 (although the government has announced its intention to revisit the co-firing rules as part of the 2006 Energy Review).
The renewables transport fuel obligation is a separate law, which although is not in force yet, is set to become law. It would require bio-ethanol and bio-diesel to be added to road fuel, up to a limit of 2 or 5.75%. The land required for this would be considerable. It has been estimated (by the NFU) that the biomass could be grown by using all of the UKs net wheat exports, and growing wheat on 1,200 square kilometres of land.
While this may look like a large amount, it is achievable.
scheme, announced in May 2007, that will apply to large non energy-intensive
organisations in the public and private sectors, including hotel chains, supermarkets, banks, central government and large Local Authorities
. It is anticipated that the scheme will have cut carbon emissions by 1.2 million tonnes of carbon per year by 2020.
The CRC scheme will apply to organisations that have a mandatory half-hourly metered electricity consumption greater than 6,000 MWh
per year. This roughly equates to an electricity bill above £
500,000 (US$
1,000,000), although it would apply to emissions from direct energy use as well as electricity purchased.
, a growing number of councils have signed up to the Nottingham Declaration, launched on 25 October 2000, committing them to work towards reducing emissions.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Climate Change Programme was launched in November 2000 by the British government in response to its commitment agreed at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
Earth Summit
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development , also known as the Rio Summit, Rio Conference, Earth Summit was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 June to 14 June 1992.-Overview:...
(UNCED). The 2000 programme was updated in March 2006 following a review launched in September 2004.
In 2008, the UK was the world's 9th greatest producer of man-made carbon emissions, producing around 1.8% of the global total generated from fossil fuel
Fossil fuel
Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years...
s.
Aim and progress
The aims of the programme are not only to cut all greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
emissions by the agreed 12.5% from 1990 levels in the period 2008 to 2012 (the international Kyoto commitment), but to go beyond this by cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 20% from 1990 levels by 2010.
When the original programme was published in 2000, it confirmed that UK emissions were already forecast to be around 15% lower by 2010.
As of March 2006, government projections were in line with the official energy policy of the United Kingdom
Energy policy of the United Kingdom
The current energy policy of the United Kingdom is set out in the Energy White Paper of May 2007 and Low Carbon Transition Plan of July 2009, building on previous work including the 2003 Energy White Paper and the Energy Review Report in 2006...
) so that, by 2010, the UK will have reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by about 15-18% below 1990 levels, thus missing the government's internal target but achieving its Kyoto Protocol
Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , aimed at fighting global warming...
target, with a projected reduction of emissions from the basket of all greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide) of about 23-25% from 1990 levels.
2000 Climate Change Programme
The stated strategies of the 2000 programme were to:- Improve business’ use of energy, stimulate investment and cut costs;
- Stimulate new, more efficient sources of power generation;
- Cut emissions from the transport sector;
- Promote better energy efficiency in the domestic sector, saving householders money;
- Improve the energy efficiency requirements of the building regulations;
- Continue cutting emissions from agriculture;
- Ensure the public sector took a leading role.
Climate Change Act
On 26 November 2008, after cross-party pressure over several years, led by environmental groups, the Climate Change Act became law. The Act puts in place a framework to achieve a mandatory 80% cut in the UK's carbon emissions by 2050 (compared to 1990 levels), with an intermediate target of between 34% by 2020 which would have risen in the event of a strong deal at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.Renewables Obligation
Introduced on 1 April 2002, the Renewables Obligation requires all electricity suppliers who supply electricity to end consumers to supply a set portion of their electricity from eligible renewables sources; a proportion that will increase each year until 2015 from a 3% requirement in 2002-2003, via 10.4% in 2010-2012 up to 15.4% by 2015-2016. The UK Government announced in the 2006 Energy Review an additional target of 20% by 2020-21. For each eligible megawatt hour of renewable energy generated, a tradable certificate called a renewables obligation certificate(ROC) is issued by OFGEM.On or before 31 September following the RO year (1 Apr - 31 Mar) Suppliers can meet their Renewables Obligation by:
- acquiring and redeeming ROCs,
- paying a buy-out price equivalent to £33.24/megawatt hour in 2006/07 and rising each year with retail price index;or
- a combination of redeeming ROCs and paying the buy-out price.
When a supplier meets all or part of its obligation by paying the buy-out price for each MWh of its obligation not discharged by the redemption of ROCs, the money is put into a holding account called the buy-out fund. The buy-out fund is recycled before 1 November to those electricity suppliers who presented ROCs against their Renewables Obligation. This 'recycling' is distributed equally for each ROC redeemed, those suppliers who did not redeem any ROCs will receive no 'recycling' from the buy-out fund.
The renewables obligation also makes requirements about how the electricity can be generated. An example is that the co-firing of biomass with coal is to be phased out - and will not be eligible for Renewable Obligation Certificates after 2016 (although the government has announced its intention to revisit the co-firing rules as part of the 2006 Energy Review).
The renewables transport fuel obligation is a separate law, which although is not in force yet, is set to become law. It would require bio-ethanol and bio-diesel to be added to road fuel, up to a limit of 2 or 5.75%. The land required for this would be considerable. It has been estimated (by the NFU) that the biomass could be grown by using all of the UKs net wheat exports, and growing wheat on 1,200 square kilometres of land.
While this may look like a large amount, it is achievable.
Housing and community grants
Grants to assist with the installation of renewable energy sources in domestic properties and for community groups were made available through the Clear Skies organisation, and the Major Photovoltaics Demonstration programme. In 2006 these were replaced by the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP).CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme
The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme is a mandatory cap and tradeEmissions trading
Emissions trading is a market-based approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants....
scheme, announced in May 2007, that will apply to large non energy-intensive
Energy intensity
]Energy intensity is a measure of the energy efficiency of a nation's economy. It is calculated as units of energy per unit of GDP.* High energy intensities indicate a high price or cost of converting energy into GDP....
organisations in the public and private sectors, including hotel chains, supermarkets, banks, central government and large Local Authorities
Local government in the United Kingdom
The pattern of local government in England is complex, with the distribution of functions varying according to the local arrangements. Legislation concerning local government in England is decided by the Parliament and Government of the United Kingdom, because England does not have a devolved...
. It is anticipated that the scheme will have cut carbon emissions by 1.2 million tonnes of carbon per year by 2020.
The CRC scheme will apply to organisations that have a mandatory half-hourly metered electricity consumption greater than 6,000 MWh
MWH
MWH may stand for:* International Air Transport Association airport code for Grant County International Airport* MWH Global, an international water engineering consultancy* Men Without Hats, a Canadian New Wave band...
per year. This roughly equates to an electricity bill above £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
500,000 (US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1,000,000), although it would apply to emissions from direct energy use as well as electricity purchased.
Nottingham Declaration
Although not part of the central government programme, in local governmentLocal government
Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
, a growing number of councils have signed up to the Nottingham Declaration, launched on 25 October 2000, committing them to work towards reducing emissions.
See also
- Action on climate changeAction on climate changeIndividual and political action on climate change can take many forms, most of which have the ultimate goal of limiting and/or reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, toward avoiding dangerous climate change.-Political action:...
- Campaign against Climate ChangeCampaign against Climate ChangeThe Campaign against Climate Change is a UK-based pressure group that aims to raise public awareness of anthropogenic climate change through mobilizing mass demonstrations...
(UK pressure group) - Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006The Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which aims to boost the number of heat and electricity microgeneration installations in the United Kingdom, so helping to cut carbon emissions and reduce fuel poverty.The Act was piloted through...
- Climate of the United KingdomClimate of the United KingdomThe United Kingdom straddles the geographic mid-latitudes between 50-60 N from the equator. It is also positioned on the western seaboard of Eurasia, the world's largest land mass. These boundary conditions allow convergence between moist maritime air and dry continental air...
- Economy of the United KingdomEconomy of the United KingdomThe economy of the United Kingdom is the sixth-largest national economy in the world measured by nominal GDP and seventh-largest measured by purchasing power parity , and the third-largest in Europe measured by nominal GDP and second-largest measured by PPP...
- List of climate change initiatives
- List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions
- Making Sweden an Oil-Free Society
- Stop Climate ChaosStop Climate ChaosStop Climate Chaos is a climate change coalition of primarily environmental and international development NGOs that was formed in September 2005. The coalition ran the big I Count campaign in 2006–07 and organised The Wave - a campaign focused on the climatic impacts of energy production which...
(UK pressure group)
External links
- Climate Change Programme 2006
- Government Climate Change Project Office
- Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership
- Energy Saving Trust
- The Carbon Trust
- Text of the Nottingham Declaration (.doc)
- British Council and openDemocracy debate on the politics of climate change
- http://www.saveenergy.co.uk/
- Climate Change Chronicles Includes frequent stories and press releases related to the UK's Climate Change policy
- George MonbiotGeorge MonbiotGeorge Joshua Richard Monbiot is an English writer, known for his environmental and political activism. He lives in Machynlleth, Wales, writes a weekly column for The Guardian, and is the author of a number of books, including Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain and Bring on the...
, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 30 June 2005, "Then ... and now: On November 8 1989, Margaret Thatcher shocked the UN with a speech on global warming." - July 2005, Energy saving targets scrapped for housing
- June 2005, "London's political and business leaders come together to combat climate change" to create London Climate Change AgencyLondon Climate Change AgencyThe London Climate Change Agency Limited , was a municipal company owned by the London Development Agency that worked in partnership with private sector companies to design, finance, construct, own and operate decentralised low energy and zero-carbon projects for London, as well as providing...
- Climate Change Action Both original articles on climate change related issues and updates on various national climate change campaigns.
- Campaign against Climate Change Pressure group seeking to bring about a concerted response to climate change from government and public.
- Friends of the Earth The environmentalist group's view of the programme's shortcomings.
- DTI specific section specific government (DTI) details
- Webtool and online global collaboration resource to accelerate 'cleantech' and inform about a Low Carbon Economy