Amber Rudd, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, has responded to a letter from UNA-UK which called for the UK Government to drive forward a robust climate deal in Paris. UNA-UK supporters added their voices to the call via a petition ahead of the December conference.
The Paris Climate Conference in December 2015 delivered a historic agreement which saw 193 countries making commitments to curb greenhouse gas emissions, demonstrating unprecedented international engagement on climate change. The agreement sets out a long-term goal of near-net zero emissions by the end of the century.
In response to UNA-UK’s concerns that the Conference would be unlikely to put us on course to limit the global temperature rise to the UN-agreed target of 2°C above pre-industrial levels, the Secretary of State assured that the new framework not only “drives us forward on our path to limiting global temperature rises to below 2 degrees” but that there is “a further collective aspiration of 1.5 degrees”.
Ms Rudd also outlined the UK’s domestic efforts “to reduce emissions in the most cost-effective way”, stating that the Government is “more than doubling funding for Department of Energy and Climate Change’s energy innovation programme to over £500m which will reduce costs of decarbonising over the longer-term and enable growth”.
UNA-UK would like to thank its supporters for taking action and urging the UK Government to show leadership in combating climate change. Paris marks a clear turning point towards a low carbon future, but it is not over yet. The success of the new framework depends on whether the more vague provisions of the Agreement – of which there are many – are translated into concrete action at the national level.
Click here to read Amber Rudd MPs response to the petition
Click here to read Amber Rudd MP’s response to the letter from UNA-UK
