UK plots an accounting trick to hit its climate goals - POLITICO Europe
UK plots an accounting trick to hit its climate goals - POLITICO
LONDON — Britain’s making progress on slashing its carbon emissions — so now it wants to slack off a little.
Thanks in no small part to Covid, the U.K. cut emissions by more than it was legally required to in the last five year-round.
Now U.K. government officials are actively looking at “carrying forward” these surplus emissions to the next five-year budget period.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”