David Cameron should push for the world to follow the UK’s lead in setting a series of targets to drive climate emissions towards zero, environmental groups urged.
A new international climate deal, which backers want to see signed at the end of 2015, should follow the example of the UK’s Climate Change Act which includes a series of five-year “carbon budgets” for reducing greenhouse gases over time, they said.
The Prime Minister should use momentum building ahead of a climate summit in New York later this month, organised by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, to push for a strong international deal in 2015, the green groups said.
Ahead of the New York summit, the coalition of environmental groups and charities including Greenpeace, WWF, the RSPB, think tank Green Alliance and Christian Aid have set out what they wanted to see from a global climate deal.
Hopes are stronger for a deal in Paris next year than last time it was attempted in Copenhagen in 2009, as the US and China have moved their positions on action, the costs of clean technology are falling and scientific evidence of climate change is even clearer.
A report from the groups said the agreement should include ambitious plans by countries for taking action both before and after 2020, and provide a clear legal framework for delivering and monitoring greenhouse gas cuts.
The 2015 agreement should establish a framework with rolling commitments to reduce emissions and support efforts to adapt to a changing climate.
The rolling commitments should be on a five-year basis with a goal to phase out pollution from fossil fuels by 2050 and phase in clean energy such as renewables, and include measures to ratchet up the targets in the face of new science and greater action.
A strong international deal would let countries push ahead with carbon reductions, knowing others were doing the same, provide certainty for a global low carbon economy, and help poorer countries cope with global warming, the groups argued.
The UK has a series of five-year climate emission reduction targets or carbon budgets, set a number of years in advance, to ensure it is on track to meet its legally-binding goal to cut greenhouse gases by 80% by 2050.
David Nussbaum, chief executive of WWF-UK, said: “The UK has historically played a critical role in spurring global co-operation on addressing climate change, and was the first to adopt legislation aimed at addressing the issue.
“So it’s vital that neither we, nor the EU, lower our ambition now. The US and China are moving faster than expected, and the prospects for an ambitious global agreement are currently looking better.”
Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven said: “Never has a generation of world leaders stood a better chance of clinching a global climate deal.
“This time there’s enough momentum to aim for something better than just another sticking-plaster deal with a short shelf life.
“The UK has blazed a trail by committing to legally-binding, rolling carbon targets. David Cameron now has the opportunity to argue for a similar system that can drive a global countdown towards zero emissions – he should seize it with both hands.”
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