Christian Aid welcomes the acknowledgment by the Prime Minister Gordon Brown that a 60 per cent cuts in UK carbon emissions by 2050 is not enough for us to play our part in keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius.
Mr Brown made the statement in his first speech as prime minister at the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth.
Talking about the new Climate Change Bill, Mr Brown said:
'But I am not satisfied: so I am asking the new independent climate change committee to report on whether the 60 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050, which is already bigger than most other countries, should be even stronger still.'
It is clear from the Government's own figures that 60 per cent cuts, if replicated by other rich countries, could in fact lead to warming in excess of four degrees C. This would be disastrous for Britain and catastrophic for the world's poorest countries.
'Since this is now widely acknowledged,' said Andrew Pendleton, Christian Aid’s senior climate analyst, 'the UK government shouldn't just leave the increase of the target to the new climate change committee.
'Cuts of at least 80 per cent by 2050 (over 1990 levels) must be the overall aim of the bill as it progresses through Parliament so that the kinds of cuts now needed win full political support.
'It is particularly important that the UK - the acknowledged global leader on tackling climate change and the first country to bring such a bill forward - gets it right from day one.
'If we do not have a sufficiently strong target, then we cannot expect other rich countries, let alone the likes of India and China, to do so either.'
Earlier in the day at a fringe event, Lord Whitty, a former environment minister and currently the head of the National Consumer Council, publicly lent his support to one of the key demands of Christian Aid’s Cut the Carbon campaign.
Lord Whitty said in response to a Christian Aid question about the need for government to set mandatory standards for carbon disclosure: 'Companies definitely should report direct emissions.'
He went on to say: 'It’s not government policy and it should be.'
On indirect emissions he said that top FTSE companies should 'make a stab' at reporting their full global carbon footprint.
As part of its campaign Christian Aid is demanding that the government include measures to ensure companies disclose their full carbon emissions in the forthcoming climate change bill. Companies based in the UK emit 12 to 15 per cent of global emissions.
Christian Aid launched a campaign on climate change earlier this year in response to increasing concerns about the impact on the world’s poorest communities.
Mr Pendleton said, 'It is encouraging to see a former government minister clearly acknowledging the current anomaly where companies can choose what standards by which they report their carbon emissions, and can choose not to report them at all.
'The climate change bill is the perfect opportunity for the government to put this right.'