Ministers to drive forward European push on climate change
Financial Secretary to the Treasury John Healey and Environment and Climate Change Minister Ian Pearson will join business representatives in Berlin where they will argue that European leadership has to be at the heart of the global effort to tackle climate change.
(Media-Newswire.com) - The UK Government today ( Tuesday ) starts a series of joint Ministerial visits to key European capitals to drive forward EU action on climate change.
Financial Secretary to the Treasury John Healey and Environment and Climate Change Minister Ian Pearson will join business representatives in Berlin where they will argue that European leadership has to be at the heart of the global effort to tackle climate change.
John Healey said:
"Climate change is a central economic as well as an environmental challenge. The Stern Report reinforced this message, so we will be working with economics and finance ministries, as well as environment and energy departments, across Europe to ensure that the ambitions agreed at the historic Spring Council earlier this month are fully implemented but at the lowest possible cost to all of our economies.
"These visits are evidence of the UK Government's determination to work together to use the Stern Report as the springboard for reaching the international agreements that are vital to tackling climate change."
Ian Pearson said:
“These visits will help build support and commitment across Europe for strong international action to tackle climate change. EU leadership will help secure an ambitious agreement from both the G8 and the formal UN climate change process so that we can avoid dangerous climate change.
“2007 is an important year in the fight against climate change. By taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the EU can make a real difference to its citizens, consumers and businesses.
“ Germany 's EU Presidency has already delivered real progress in agreeing climate change goals, and we want to work with our German counterparts to consider how to capitalise on that.”
The visits, announced by the Chancellor, follow the historic agreement made by EU heads of state earlier this month that the EU would cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20% by 2020.
The visits will provide the opportunity to build international support for the UK Government's Vision Paper for the long-term future of emissions trading, and further debate following the Stern Report on the economics of climate change in the autumn. Earlier this month, UK businesses and environment groups joined the debate on how emissions trading should develop by signing up to a manifesto on the future of EU emissions trading. The manifesto was coordinated by the UK Government.
Today's visit to Germany, as well as to Poland in the coming weeks, and to Portugal and Slovenia ahead of their forthcoming EU presidencies, will help encourage EU ministers to develop solutions at least-cost that will allow Europe to address climate change in a way that is consistent with continued economic growth.
Notes to editors 1. During their visit to Berlin , Ministers will meet with industry leaders, German Government representatives and will address a joint German UK conference on the EU's emissions trading scheme. They will be using these meetings to discuss common interests in the need to maintain the level of ambition agreed at the Spring Council and will focus on a robust emissions trading system as the centrepiece of Europe 's climate change mitigation strategy.
2. EU heads of state approved on 9 March a new set of greenhouse gas emissions targets to be met by 2020. The EU decided to make a firm independent commitment to achieve at least a 20% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 compared to 1990, and that it is willing to commit to a reduction of 30% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 compared to 1990 as its contribution to a global and comprehensive agreement for the period beyond 2012 ( provided that others make comparable commitments ).
3. The UK Vision for the future of the Emissions Trading Scheme can be found here:
5. The Ministerial visits were announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown in the 2007 Budget, saying:
7.17 A key conclusion of the Stern Review was the need for Economic and Finance Ministries to be involved in climate change policy. Over the coming months, therefore, Ministers from HM Treasury and the Department of Trade and Industry ( DTI ) as well as the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs ( Defra ) will undertake a series of joint visits to European countries to underline the need to translate Europe 's ambitions into policy proposals. These visits will include meetings with their counterparts in Germany and Poland .
End
Public enquiries: 08459 335577 News releases available on our website: www.defra.gov.uk Defra's aim is sustainable development
Related Content
Release Date
This story was released on 2007-03-29. Please make sure to visit the official company or organization web site to learn more about the original release date. See our disclaimer for additional information.