A report suggested a framework for recognizing the value of the environment and enshrining its protection in the structure of the economy, based on the concept of 'natural capital'.
Source: Hannah Hislop, Beyond Stern: The environmental challenge for the comprehensive spending review, Green Alliance (020 7233 7433)
Links: Report | Green Alliance press release
Date: 2006-Dec
A report examined the concept of personal carbon allowances, and the issues of technical feasibility and public/political acceptability which it raised.
Source: Simon Roberts and Joshua Thumim, A Rough Guide to Individual Carbon Trading: The ideas, the issues and the next steps, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (08459 556000)
Links: Report | CSE press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Dec
The government announced (in the Pre-Budget Report for 2006) that new 'zero carbon' homes that did not contribute to global warming would be exempted from stamp duty. Taxes on aviation and petrol were increased. But environmental campaigners criticized the measures as an inadequate response to the dangers of climate change.
Source: Pre-Budget Report 2006: Investing in Britain's potential - Building our long-term future, Cm 6984, HM Treasury, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 6 December 2006, Friends of the Earth (020 7490 1555)
Links: Report | Summary | Hansard | HMT press release | FOE press release | Guardian report | FT report | BBC report
Date: 2006-Dec
The government announced (in the Queen's Speech) that it would introduce a Climate Change Bill. The Bill would: put the government s long-term goal (to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 60 per cent by 2050) into statute; establish an independent body (the Carbon Committee) to work with government to reduce emissions over time and across the economy; create enabling powers to put in place new emissions reductions measures needed to achieve the government's goals; and set out improved monitoring and reporting arrangements, including how the government reported to parliament.
Source: Queen's Speech, House of Commons Hansard, 15 November 2006, column 1, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Speech | Downing Street Briefing | FOE press release | Transport 2000 press release | ABI press release | PCS press release | CBI press release | Water UK press release | Times report | FT report (1) | FT report (2) | BBC report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2006-Nov
A think-tank report said that the government received a smaller share of both national income and total tax receipts from environmental taxes than when it was elected in 1997. Meanwhile total carbon dioxide emissions had risen.
Source: Andrew Leicester, The UK Tax System and the Environment, Institute for Fiscal Studies (020 7291 4800)
Links: Report | IFS press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-Nov
A think tank published a collection of essays which examined the policies and mechanisms that would be necessary if Britain were to reduce substantially its contribution to climate change.
Source: Peter Bill (ed.), The Green Shift: Environmental policies to match a changing public climate, Smith Institute (020 7592 3618)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Nov
An independent report (commissioned by the government from Sir Nicholas Stern) examined the evidence on the economic impacts of climate change. It said that global warming could shrink the global economy by 20 per cent: but taking early action would cost just 1 per cent of global gross domestic product. The government said that climate change legislation would form a fundamental part of the United Kingdom's strategy in response.
Source: Nicholas Stern, Stern Review: The Economics of Climate Change, HM Treasury (020 7270 4558) | Press release 30 October 2006, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (020 7238 6000)
Links: Report | Summary | DEFRA press release | Downing Street press release | PM speech | Hansard | Royal Society press release | TUC press release | CBI press release | Greenpeace press release | FOE press release | NERC press release | TCPA press release | Water UK press release | Transport 2000 press release | Met Office press release | New Scientist report | Socialist Worker report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Oct
An article reported a review by the Office for National Statistics of which taxes should be classified as environmental taxes according to international guidance.
Source: Ian Gazley, 'UK environmental taxes: classification and recent trends', Economic Trends, October 2006, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Article | ONS press release
Date: 2006-Oct
A literature review examined the research base on public attitudes towards climate change and transport behaviour. Attitudes had not been comprehensively examined in any consistent, robust, and integrated way to warrant a comprehensive analysis of the links between them.
Source: Jillian Anable, Ben Lane and Tanika Kelay, An Evidence Base Review of Public Attitudes to Climate Change and Transport Behaviour, Department for Transport (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Aug
A think-tank report said that the alarmist language used by the media to discuss climate change was tantamount to climate porn - offering a thrilling spectacle but ultimately distancing the public from the problem.
Source: Gill Ereaut and Nat Segnit, Warm Words: How are we telling the climate story and can we tell it better?, Institute for Public Policy Research, available from Central Books (0845 458 9911)
Links: Report | IPPR press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Aug
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs responded to a letter from the Prime Minister setting out priorities for his department (sent following a ministerial reshuffle in May 2006).
Source: Letter from David Miliband MP (Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), 13 July 2006
Links: Text of letter
Date: 2006-Jul
The government and the Environment Agency responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the Agency's role and performance.
Source: The Environment Agency: Government and Environment Agency Responses to the Committee's Seventh Report, Sixth Special Report (Session 2005-06), HC 1519, House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2006-Jul
The Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006 was given Royal assent. The Act included a requirement for an annual report to be laid before Parliament on the efforts being made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Source: Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006, Mark Lazarowicz MP, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Act | DTI press release | ERA press release
Date: 2006-Jun
The Environment Agency published its corporate strategy for the period 2006-2011.
Source: Creating a Better Place: Corporate strategy 2006 2011, Environment Agency (08459 333111)
Links: Strategy
Date: 2006-Jun
A report by a committee of peers said that the water industry regulator needed to take a far more assertive role than it had since privatization in ensuring that water companies dealt with long-term issues of leakage and increased sources of supply. It criticized government departments and the Environment Agency for failing to do enough to develop and co-ordinate an overall strategy to deal with the water issue. Water bills would have to rise, despite two years of above-inflation increases. Wilful non-payers of water bills should be punished with a 'trickle' supply of water to their home.
Source: Water Management, Eighth Report (Session 2005-06), HL 191, House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | DCLG press release | Water UK press release | CCW press release | FOE press release | BBC report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2006-Jun
The Prime Minister wrote to the newly appointed State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (following a Cabinet reshuffle), setting out priorities for his Department. He asked him to consider the establishment of an Office for Climate Change, to develop climate change policy and strategy across government.
Source: Letter from Tony Blair MP (Prime Minister) to David Miliband MP (Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), 11 May 2006
Links: Letter
Date: 2006-May
The Department for Environment, Food And Rural Affairs published its annual report for 2005-06.
Source: Departmental Report 2006, Cm 6827, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | DEFRA press release
Date: 2006-May
A third reading was given to a private member's Bill requiring an annual report to be laid before Parliament on the efforts being made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Source: Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Bill, Mark Lazarowicz MP, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 12 May 2006, columns 601-666, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard
Date: 2006-May
A report by a committee of MPs said that the government should examine whether the Environment Agency was adequately equipped for the cross-cutting environmental challenges facing it, not least its important role as environmental champion and how it balanced this with its regulatory role. It criticized planning authorities for allowing homes to be built in flood risk areas against expert advice, and said the Environment Agency needed statutory powers to oppose building where it felt there was significant flood risk.
Source: The Environment Agency, Seventh Report (Session 2005-06), HC 780, House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-May
The Welsh Assembly government published a 20-year strategy for creating an environment which was clean, healthy, biologically diverse, and valued by the people of Wales.
Source: Environment Strategy for Wales, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Strategy
Date: 2006-May
A report by a committee of MPs said that the government was cutting the level of green taxes as a proportion of national income at a time when carbon dioxide emissions in the United Kingdom were rising.
Source: Pre-Budget 2005: Tax, Economic Analysis, and Climate Change, Fourth Report (Session 2005-06), HC 882, House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Mar
A government consultation document sought to establish the extent to which there were barriers to commercial deployment of carbon capture and storage, and whether and how these could be addressed.
Source: Carbon Capture and Storage: A consultation on barriers to commercial deployment, HM Treasury (020 7270 4558)
Links: Consultation document
Date: 2006-Mar
The government said that its target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent by 2010 was no longer achievable.
Source: Climate Change: The United Kingdom Programme 2006, Cm 6764, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | DEFRA press release | FOE press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Mar
The Scottish Executive announced that it was setting a target of reducing carbon emissions by 2.7 million tonnes by 2010 - compared to the 1.7 million tonnes required as its part of a United Kingdom commitment to cut greenhouse gases.
Source: Changing Our Ways: Scotland's climate change programme, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SE press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-Mar
A report by a committee of MPs said that the government's housing plans seemed to ignore the need to put in place support infrastructure first, and did not properly consider environmental issues.
Source: Sustainable Housing: A Follow-up Report, Fifth Report (Session 2005-06), HC 779, House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | ODPM press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-Mar
A government report examined the impact of the climate change levy (introduced in 2001). It highlighted how it had helped to put the United Kingdom on course to meet its Kyoto commitment for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2012.
Source: The Climate Change Levy Package, HM Treasury (020 7270 4558)
Links: Report | DEFRA press release
Date: 2006-Mar
A think-tank report recommended a radical overhaul of the tax system to promote environmental goals, with inefficiency charges on products that wasted energy and water, and new fiscal incentives to reward consumers for making greener choices.
Source: Simon Dresner, Paul Ekins and Rebecca Willis, A Green Living Initiative: Engaging households to achieve environmental goals, Green Alliance (020 7233 7433)
Links: Report | Green Alliance press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Feb
Campaigners said that public participation was essential to meeting environmental objectives. It recommended changes in the way the green movement communicated in order to achieve public behaviour change - including an end to 'scare' and 'guilt' tactics, and instead the articulation of a positive vision for the future that was desirable and realistic.
Source: Painting the Town Green, Transport 2000 (020 7613 0743)
Links: Transport 2000 press release
Date: 2006-Jan
An official advisory body on climate change published its first annual report. It said that the United Kingdom needed to accelerate its strategy to cut greenhouse gas emissions to have any hope of meeting its carbon reduction commitments.
Source: Meeting Carbon Budgets: The need for a step change, Committee on Climate Change (020 7270 1916)
Links: Report | Summary | CCC press release | Friends of the Earth press release | CfBT press release | CBI press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Guardian report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2006-Jan
A report said that higher green taxes, implemented as a 'tax shift', could by themselves enable the United Kingdom to meet its statutory carbon emission reduction targets. The tax would also provide a boost to the development of low-carbon industries and, in doing so, provide additional employment.
Source: The Case for Green Fiscal Reform, Green Fiscal Commission
Links: Report | GPC press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2006-Jan
The government published guidelines on environmental reporting. Campaigners said that they would not provide an adequate indication of a company's true impact on the environment.
Source: Environmental Key Performance Indicators: Reporting Guidelines for UK Businesses, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (08459 556000)Press release 24 January 2006, Friends of the Earth (020 7490 1555)
Links: Guidelines | FOE press release
Date: 2006-Jan
A new government book described recent developments in the science of climate change, explored how much climate change was too much, and how it could be avoided.
Source: Hans Joachim Schellnhuber et al. (eds.), Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change, Cambridge University Press (01223 312393) for Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Links: Book | Royal Society press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jan