Examination of Witness (Questions 58-59)
PROFESSOR SIR
DAVID KING
12 JUNE 2007
Q58 Joan Walley: Sir David, a very warm
welcome to you. Thank you very much indeed for coming before our
Committee. We understand entirely that this is a second bite of
the cherry for some members of the Committee who I think were
at the Climate Change Committee. We are very grateful to you for
coming along after the publication of the Energy Review. We are
very mindful of the process that the Energy White Paper sets out
and the Climate Change Bill. We will shortly be doing a further
inquiry into the machinery of Government which relates to all
of these issues. We feel it is a particularly relevant time for
you to come before our Committee. I want to kick off by asking
you about the Government's 60% reduction in UK carbon emissions
by 2050 proposals. I know some of this was covered at the joint
committee last week. Many observers have argued that this target
ought to be increased in order to give ourselves a better chance
of limiting a global rise in temperatures to 2°C. Indeed,
we had David Miliband before our Committee only last week and
he made much of the fact that the Bill describes the target as
being "at least 60%", thereby suggesting it could be
increased in the future. I know you have previously suggested
that bigger increases are needed. You have also made great play
of the time factor so that when you get further along the road
more becomes possible and more quickly. We are interested to know
whether or not you feel that that 60% ought to be increased at
this stage.
Professor Sir David King: I think
it is very important that we set a tough but do-able goal. Quite
clearly, if it becomes apparent after 10 years that we are simply
not going to manage the goal then the confidence in the goal will
fall away. From a Government's point of view that is critically
important. One reason why a goal has to be set is because investments
are made on the basis of the goal and provided confidence can
be given over a long period of time then the right investments
will come through. That is a critical pathway to managing the
process. If after five or 10 years it becomes apparent that, firstly,
there is global action because, as you rightly said, this is a
global problem, Britain and Europe are not the only people who
are trying to manage the problem, and secondly, if the science
is indicating that a tighter goal is required and the technology
is coming through strongly with carbon free alternatives to energy
production and energy efficiency gains are coming through, then
of course it would be absolutely right to tighten up the goal.
Q59 Joan Walley: Do you think we
are okay as we are at this stage?
Professor Sir David King: I think
it is a very good goal at this stage. If we could achieve a similar
goal with all of the developed world countries we would be making
tremendous headway. I think that is another part of the whole
equation. When Britain declared it would reduce its emissions
by 60% by 2050 it partly broke the deadlock in the negotiations
with other countries, particularly around the G8 plus five because
we were saying this is our objective and what are you going to
do, rather than saying we are waiting for you to take action.
So I think the 60% was a very good symbolic figure, but at the
same time I think it is a challenging and a do-able figure. It
is in the right ballpark.
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