The Guardian: "Chris Huhne: a new global climate change treaty is not a luxury"

Link to The Guardian

"Chris Huhne robustly defended the need for a new global treaty on climate change on Thursday, in an attack on governments and advisors who want to opt for a weaker commitment that would not be legally binding.

"... Citing [Ernst & Young] research showing that a majority of large global businesses were in favour of a deal, Huhne told an audience at Imperial College London:

"A global deal covering all major economies is not a luxury. It is not an optional extra. It is an absolute necessity."

... UNEP's chief scientist, Joseph Alcamo, said:

"Every year it becomes more difficult to keep within 2C. Every year, we build more power plants. Every year, we build more buildings that are not efficient. Every year, our options [to avoid climate change] get less and less."

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Link to web site

"The invitation to today’s event says the Fourth Carbon Budget will be ‘a defining issue for British industry in the medium term’.

"Strong stuff. And I agree, with one caveat: cutting carbon out of our economy won’t just affect industry. It will be much bigger than that. Halving our emissions to hit the Fourth Carbon Budget will mean changing the very fabric of our economy.

As the Grantham Research Institute said recently, if the Government sticks to its plan – and I quote:

"The UK is poised for two decades of aggressive decarbonisation, in the power sector and elsewhere."

"In transport, heating, and industry, in generation and efficiency, we must renegotiate the terms of our relationship with energy. If we succeed, our climate will be safer, and our economy more competitive."