Reacting to Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague's speech on climate change and foreign policy today, Greenpeace Executive Director John Sauven said:
"The fact that William Hague has recognised climate change as one of the top issues affecting British foreign policy is significant, especially in the run up to a general election.
"Global warming carries dangerous consequences not only for foreign governments but for British interests at home and abroad. The Conservative party must now show that it is prepared to put the issue at the heart of its decision making, and show the determination and boldness to tackle the problem head on."
Quotes on specific areas of the speech:
EU emissions cuts
John Sauven said:
"William Hague concedes that the EU needs a more ambitious target to reduce emissions, but then claims we need to wait for a global deal before announcing it. Given the urgency of the problem and the diplomatic stalemate we face it's vitally important that he backs a 30% target right now, to show the rest of the world that the EU is serious about tackling climate change".
Note:
Hague commits to "moving to a 30% emissions reduction target by 2020 on 1990 levels when a legally binding treaty is agreed". This would simply echo the current EU position. To show real leadership the Conservative party should back calls to increase the target now.
Reform of the EU budget
John Sauven said:
"Making climate change a priority within the EU budget makes sense, because at the moment the high rhetoric of European politicians is rarely reflected in their spending commitments. But this process could take years, and Hague needs to recognise that Britain must commit funding right now to tackle urgent problems like deforestation and climate adaptation."
Note:
The shadow foreign secretary suggests that "There are strong arguments for the EU to make a single global offer channelling such funding through the EU budget, as the best and most constructive way forward."
Set against Hague's criticism of the EU should be the fact that it has been instrumental in encouraging countries including the UK to commit to emission reductions, and has played a significant role in promoting the renewable energy industry across the continent. However, politicians have failed to put their money where their mouths are, especially considering the number of speeches devoted to climate change by European leaders.
Funding for forest protection
John Sauven said:
"William Hague is right to recognise that the market will not deliver cash to protect forests before 2020, and that public funding is needed now. The UK must commit a substantial level of money immediately, because without this there may be no forest left to protect in the future."
Notes:
A report from an international group, co-chaired by the UK government and called 'The Informal Working Group on Interim Finance for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation' recently estimated that if financing of €15-25 billion were made available between 2010-15, global deforestation rates could be cut by 25%, or 7Gt of carbon dioxide equivalent. (1)
Illegal Timber
John Sauven said:
"The EU has moved too slowly to ban the importation of illegal timber into the UK, so the Conservative proposal to introduce UK legislation is welcome news. We must now make sure that any new law requires companies to prove the origin of the wood they use and is tough enough to take meaningful action against those that break the rules."
Notes:
Illegal timber remains a significant problem in the European and UK markets. New EU regulations will improve the situation but the timetable for their introduction is proving to be slower and overall strength weaker than had been hoped. A complete solution to the problem of illegal timber requires effective Europe-wide laws. In the absence of a complete European response and subject to the detail, the proposals announced by William Hague signal a step in the right direction.
Greenpeace background document: www.greenpeace.org.uk/forests/destructive-and-illegal-logging
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FOOTNOTES
(1) www.rainforestsos.org/page/-/pages/pdfs/IWG-IFR-Summary_final_ENGLISH.pdf
