Oxfordshire climate groups come together to lobby over new climate bill

Letter to the Oxford Times

Dear Sir - In March this year the Government published its draft Climate Change Bill, which sets out a legally binding framework for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions which lead to climate change.

This is now in a consultation phase, in which members of the public are invited to submit their comments by June 12.

As representatives of local environmental and community groups in Oxfordshire, we welcome this development, but we believe the current draft of the Bill does not go far enough towards achieving the size of emissions cuts we need.

The Bill's target of a 60 per cent cut in carbon dioxide by 2050 needs to be at least 80 per cent to take account of the latest science The draft Bill proposes five-year "carbon budgets", but this is longer than the electoral cycle and so would make it too easy for successive governments to blame each other for any failure to meet the targets. Instead, we propose three per cent cuts every year The two fastest growing sources of emissions, international aviation and shipping, are excluded from the Bill The Bill should increase aid targets to help communities in poor countries adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The consultation offers an opportunity for these and other shortcomings to be addressed, and we, therefore, encourage your readers to respond to it by visiting the I Count website at www.icount.org.uk or writing to Patrick Erwin/James Hardy, Climate Change Legislation Team, Area 4/F5, Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6DE.

Colette Humphrey, Banbury Friends of the Earth,
Maureen Dyroff, Chinnor & Thame Friends of the Earth,
Hilary Blake, Christian Aid, Oxford Unit,
Maranda St John Nicolle, Christian Concern for One World,
Tim Baster, Climate Outreach and Information Network,
Jill Haas, Oxford Campaign against Climate Change,
Karl Wallendszus, Oxford Friends of the Earth,
David Taylor, Oxford Oxfam Group,
Ingrid Royle, Oxfordshire Greenpeace Group,
Kevin Meaney, Oxford World Development Movement Group,
Martin Hodson, Sage (Oxford's Christian Environmental Group),
Simon Pratt, Sustrans South East Regional Office,
Adam Twine, Director, Westmill Wind Farm Co-operative Ltd,