Chris Huhne, Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change welcomed the agreement made at the international climate change summit in Cancun, describing the deal as a turning point in the negotiations.
Chris Huhne said: “A global climate deal is in the UK’s national interest and Cancun shows other countries also want to get on with getting an international deal”.
“We’ve worked hard to bring countries together and the expectations have been exceeded”.
“A global deal on climate change is now back on track”.
“We’ve now got to use this momentum to make urgent progress and lock down that deal – a deal that will benefit our environment and our economies.”
Climate Change Minister Greg Barker added: “Cancun will send a strong signal of confidence to business investing billions in the new global green economy. British companies are poised to reap the huge advantage of being the first movers in this rapidly expanding market. We will be working in partnership with the private sector to drive home that opportunity.”
Key highlights of the agreement include:
Objective: agreed to peak emissions and an overall 2 degree target to limit temperature rise.
Emissions: bringing details of what developed and developing countries are doing to tackle climate change, promised in Copenhagen, into the UN system so they can be assessed.
MRV: agreed a system so we know how countries are living up to their promises to take action on emissions
Long-term finance: established the Green Climate Fund and will start to get it ready to help developing countries go low carbon and adapt to climate impacts.
Deforestation: agreed to slow, halt and reverse destruction of trees and agree the rules for delivering it and for monitoring progress.
Technology/Adaptation: set up the mechanisms to help developing countries access low carbon technology, and adapt to climate change.
The UK’s Coalition Government is already taking strong action at home to tackle climate change and put in place the foundations of a low carbon economy. The Government is creating a Green Investment Bank, has just published the Energy Bill to bring about a transformation in energy efficiency, and will soon be publishing a consultation on Electricity Market Reform, designed to set out the framework for investment in low carbon electricity.
Source: Press Release dated 11 Dec 2010, Dept of Energy and Climate Change, UK
