Britain unveils 'global first' bill to cut CO2 emissions
It plans to cut greenhouse emissions by up to 32 percent by 2020, but scientists say it may not be enough.
from the March 14, 2007 edition
Page 4 of 4
Personalized limits
He is pressing for "personal carbon budgets," a credit card-style system of allocations that people would spend like money.
"It would give people the choice of how to make their reductions," he says. "I could still fly to the US if I lived in an efficient home. Someone else might prefer to use their car but give up their flights."
This may prove to go too far, however. Despite growing concern about climate change, many Britons fret that the country cannot make a difference on its own.
Key points of Britain's climate-change bill
Britain's Draft Climate-Change bill may act as a blueprint for other countries also taking steps to address global warming.
Here are key elements of the measure:
Official targets: Establish five-year "carbon budgets," beginning in 2008, to reduce emissions by 60 percent by 2050.
Independent oversight: Create an independent body, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), to advise government on reducing emissions.
Legislative power: Increase government's power to introduce and implement new trading schemes for domestic emissions.
Accountability: Have the CCC produce an annual progress report for Parliament; require government to report to Parliament after every five-year carbon budget.
Source: British government's Draft Climate Change Bill
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