A report said that local councils could play a major role in tackling climate change: but many had failed to put appropriate strategies and action plans into place.
Source: A Climate of Change, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Report | LGA press release | Friends of the Earth press release
Date: 2007-Dec
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the role of citizens in tackling climate change. There was 'considerable confusion' about how individuals could help to address the problem.
Source: Climate Change: The 'Citizen's Agenda': Government Response to the Committee's Eighth Report, Second Report (Session 2007-08), HC 189, House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2007-Dec
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs published its 2007 autumn performance report, showing progress against its public service agreement targets.
Source: Autumn Performance Report 2007, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (08459 556000)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Dec
The government confirmed (in the Queen's Speech) plans to proceed with its Climate Change Bill, and a Bill was published. The Bill was designed to create a legally binding commitment to achieve the government's target of a 60 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050; introduce five-year carbon budgets; establish a new independent climate change committee; and require the government to set out a sustainable programme of adaptation.
Source: Her Majesty's Most Gracious Speech to Both Houses of Parliament, 6 November 2007, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Climate Change Bill [HL], Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, TSO
Links: Queens Speech | Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | DEFRA press release | Friends of the Earth press release | EST press release | CBI press release | ABI press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Green Party press release | FSB press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2007-Nov
The Prime Minister said that he was ready to consider increasing the government's target for cuts in Britain's carbon emissions by 2050, from 60 per cent to 80 per cent.
Source: Speech by Gordon Brown MP (Prime Minister), 19 November 2007
Links: Text of speech | Greenpeace press release | Friends of the Earth press release | WWF press release | Green Party press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Guardian report | FT report
Date: 2007-Nov
A survey of public attitudes and behaviour towards the environment found that most people felt that being 'green' was the socially acceptable norm, rather being an alternative lifestyle. The main motivation for an environmentally friendly lifestyle was guilt about harming the environment.
Source: Survey of Public Attitudes and Behaviours toward the Environment: 2007, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (08459 556000)
Links: Report | DEFRA press release | Friends of the Earth press release | EST press release
Date: 2007-Nov
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on its Draft Climate Change Bill. It welcomed the Committee's support for the main elements of the Bill.
Source: Government Response to the Committee's Seventh Report of Session 2006-2007: Beyond Stern – From the Climate Change Programme Review to the Draft Climate Change Bill, Ninth Special Report (Session 2006-07), HC 1110, House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2007-Nov
A report examined the role of businesses in achieving a low-carbon economy. It said that the United Kingdom's carbon reduction targets for 2020 were likely to be missed: but that the 2050 goals, although 'stretching', could be achieved at a manageable cost – provided a greater sense of urgency was adopted. It identified priority areas for action that would put the UK back on track to meet its targets by 2030.
Source: Climate Change: Everyone's Business, Confederation of British Industry (020 7395 8247)
Links: Report | CBI press release | TUC press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report | FT report
Date: 2007-Nov
A report set out a plan for delivering carbon cuts from homes while eradicating fuel poverty, cutting energy bills, and increasing fuel security. Household carbon emissions could be cut by 80 per cent by 2050 – but only with a huge increase in political commitment and financial support from the government.
Source: Brenda Boardman, Home Truths: A low-carbon strategy to reduce UK housing emissions by 80% by 2050, Research Report 34, Environmental Change Institute/University of Oxford (01865 275848)
Links: Report | Oxford University press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Nov
Two linked reports said that the United Kingdom's existing target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 was not enough, and that a higher figure of 80 per cent was not only necessary but also feasible.
Source: Matthew Lockwood and Jenny Bird with Raquel Alvarez, 2050 Vision: How can the UK play its part in avoiding dangerous climate change?, Institute for Public Policy Research (020 7470 6100) | 80% Challenge: Delivering a low-carbon UK, Institute for Public Policy Research, World Wildlife Fund for Nature, and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Links: Report (1) summary | Report (2) | WWF press release | Green Party press release | Liberal Democrats press release | EST press release
Date: 2007-Nov
A report said that improving energy efficiency should be an essential part of the solution to environmental problems. This should be combined with a policy based on the pricing of carbon and its application on the broadest possible scale across the economy. 'Establishing good environmental credentials' should not be at the expense of economic competitiveness.
Source: A Competitive Response to Climate Change, Institute of Directors (020 7766 8866)
Links: Report | IOD press release | FT report
Date: 2007-Nov
A report by a committee of MPs said that the frameworks in government for dealing with climate change were 'confused', and did not promote effective action on reducing emissions. It called for a 'Climate Change and Energy secretariat' to be established, based in the Cabinet Office, to lead the government's policy and cut inter-departmental conflict.
Source: The Structure of Government and the Challenge of Climate Change, Ninth Report (Session 2006-07), HC 740, House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Greenpeace press release | BBC report
Date: 2007-Oct
The government published (following consultation) a revised draft Bill on climate change. It said that the new Bill was 'stronger, more effective and more transparent', and would help lower carbon emissions. The draft Bill included powers to set up local pilot schemes under which charges could be levied according to the amount of waste collected from individual households.
Source: Taking Forward the UK Climate Change Bill: The Government Response to Pre-Legislative Scrutiny and Public Consultation, Cm 7225, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Hansard | DEFRA press release | Greenpeace press release | Friends of the Earth press release | LGA press release | Green Party press release | Liberal Democrats press release | CBI press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Telegraph report | BBC report
Date: 2007-Oct
A report (commissioned by an official advisory body) said that the government's commitment to find new ways to involve the public in shaping policy on climate change was clear: but what this meant in practice was still 'very much open to question'. Providing citizens with the opportunity to engage with the policy-making process did not guarantee that their participation would actually influence policy.
Source: Stella Creasy, Karin Gavelin, Helen Fisher, Lucy Holmes and Maya Desai, Engage For Change: The role of public engagement in climate change policy, Sustainable Development Commission (020 7944 4964)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Oct
A report by a working group of the opposition Conservative Party put forward a wide range of policy proposals designed to promote sustainable improvements in the quality of life, including measures to combat climate change. It proposed a tax on workplace car parking spaces, a halt to airport growth, a tax on 4x4 cars, and restrictions on car advertising.
Source: Quality of Life Policy Group, Blueprint for a Green Economy, Conservative Party (020 7222 9000)
Links: Report | Conservative Party press release | Friends of the Earth press release | Greenpeace press release | Shelter press release | Living Streets press release | EST press release | CRC press release | CPRE press release | RAC Foundation press release | CBI press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report | FT report (1) | FT report (2)
Date: 2007-Sep
A report by a committee of MPs said that more government action was needed to encourage people to adopt greener lifestyles.
Source: Climate Change: The 'Citizen's Agenda', Eighth Report (Session 2006-07), HC 88, House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Friends of the Earth press release | BBC report
Date: 2007-Sep
A report by a joint committee of MPs and peers said that enforcement mechanisms in the draft Climate Change Bill were unclear. Failure by the government to meet a carbon budget or an annual milestone should trigger a duty to prepare a report explaining the reasons for the non-compliance, and an action plan for remedying the situation.
Source: Draft Climate Change Bill, Report (Session 2006-07), HC 542 and HL 170, Joint Committee on the Draft Climate Change Bill (House of Lords and House of Commons) Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Liberal Democrat press release | ABI press release | Friends of the Earth press release | LGIU press release | NHS Confederation press release | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2007-Aug
A survey examined what people in England thought, and how they behaved, across a range of issues relevant to the environment, including transport and waste recycling. About a quarter of people agreed with statements such as: 'It takes too much effort to do things that are environmentally friendly'.
Source: 2007 Survey of Public Attitudes and Behaviours Toward the Environment, Statistical release 14 August 2007, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (020 7238 6000)
Links: Defra press release | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Aug
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on environmental impact assessments. It said that the key objectives of the new impact-assessment process were to ensure that cost and benefit information was presented in a much more transparent way, and was updated throughout the policy-making cycle.
Source: Government Response to the Committee?s Third Report: Regulatory Impact Assessments and Policy Appraisal, Seventh Special Report (Session 2006-07), HC 849, House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2007-Jul
A report by a committee of MPs recommended changes to the draft Climate Change Bill. The first task of the proposed Committee on Climate Change should be to assess the existing state of knowledge regarding climate science, in order to determine what the 2050 target for carbon emissions should be and the trajectory for achieving it.
Source: Draft Climate Change Bill, Fifth Report (Session 2006-07), HC 534, House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Jul
A study of Labour's record on the environment since 1997 concluded that the environment had been a low priority. Carbon dioxide emissions had risen by 2 per cent. The costs of motoring had fallen by 10.2 per cent: but bus and coach fares had increased by 12.6 per cent, and rail fares by 5.9 per cent.
Source: Neil Carter and David Ockwell, New Labour, New Environment? An analysis of the Labour government's policy on climate change and biodiversity loss, Centre for Ecology, Law and Policy/University of York (01904 432999)
Links: Report | Friends of the Earth press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2007-Jul
A report proposed an 'environmental contract' which would define the rights and responsibilities of individuals and the state in relation to climate change. It would be designed to start from where people were willing to take action – if it were made easier to did so – and develop towards the deeper change across society and the economy that was likely to be required.
Source: Ed Mayo, The Environmental Contract: How to harness public action on climate change, National Consumer Council (020 7730 3469)
Links: Report | NCC press release
Date: 2007-Jul
A report by a committee of MPs said that measures proposed in the draft Climate Change Bill, alongside other developments such as the creation of the Office of Climate Change and the requirements of the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006, were 'broadly well-designed and far-reaching responses' to the climate change issue.
Source: Beyond Stern: From the Climate Change Programme Review to the Draft Climate Change Bill, Seventh Report (Session 2006-07), HC 460, House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Friends of the Earth press release
Date: 2007-Jul
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on climate change. It said that minimizing the costs of action on climate change relied on adopting a timely, flexible, global policy, employing a variety of economic instruments to control emissions of a broad range of greenhouse gases.
Source: Government Response to the Committee's Fourth Report of Session 2006?07: Pre?Budget 2006 and the Stern Review, Fifth Special Report (Session 2006-07), HC 739, House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2007-Jun
A think-tank report said that central government intervention was not the most effective, efficient, or equitable means of addressing environmental problems ? and could even be counterproductive. There needed to be greater scope for local decision-taking. 'Localist' solutions to environmental problems would rely primarily on a combination of property rights and contracts.
Source: The Local Environment, Centre for Policy Studies (020 7222 4488)
Links: Report | CPS press release
Date: 2007-Jun
A government policy review paper examined how the United Kingdom should secure its energy supplies and protect the environment. Tackling climate change was 'the biggest challenge of our times'.
Source: Building on Progress: Energy and Environment, Strategy Unit/Cabinet Office (020 7276 1881)
Links: Report | Downing Street press release
Date: 2007-Jun
The government published an updated report of the health effects of climate change in the United Kingdom. The population was adapting well to the increasing temperatures experienced since the 1970s: but heatwaves still posed a serious problem to health, and they would became more frequent.
Source: Health Effects of Climate Change in the UK: An update of the Department of Health report 2001/2002, Department of Health (08701 555455) and Health Protection Agency
Links: Report | DH press release | HPA press release
Date: 2007-May
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs published its annual report for 2006-07, showing its performance against public service agreement targets.
Source: Departmental Report 2007, Cm 7103, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-May
A report examined the viability of establishing national standards for local environmental quality. It set out nine 'positive local qualities' of good local environments: clean and tidy, green, unpolluted, secure, safe, accessible, socially inclusive and fulfilling, economically vital and viable, and physically attractive.
Source: Matthew Carmona and Claudio de Magalh?es, Local Environmental Quality: A New View on Measurement, Department for Communities and Local Government (web publication only)
Date: 2007-May
The government announced that it had accepted the recommendations made by the Better Regulation Commission in its appraisal of the regulatory implications of the Stern Review (into climate change).
Source: Press release 24 May 2007, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (020 7238 6000)
Links: Defra press release
Date: 2007-May
A report said that investment in the local environment produced significant benefits to the local economy. Simple interventions, such as improving landscaping, security, and lighting around shops and businesses, checked local economic decline and led to greater economic resilience.
Source: The Contribution of the Local Environment to the Local Economy, Centre for Local Economic Strategies (0131 650 9166) and Groundwork
Links: Summary | Groundwork press release
Date: 2007-Apr
A report said that the United Kingdom would fail to meet its target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 30 per cent of 1990 levels by 2020: existing policies were only likely to produce a fall of 12?17 per cent by that date.
Source: Mark Maslin, UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Are We on Target?, UCL Environment Institute/University College London (020 7679 0534)
Links: Report | UCL press release | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Mar
An article examined and contrasted the approaches taken by two English local authorities in seeking more participatory approaches to environmental policy-making. Strong state management of networks was required if policy-making was to proceed in a more inclusive manner. The most effective routes to participatory policy-making might rely heavily on 'manipulation strategies', despite the fact that these were frequently described as weaker (or lower) forms of participation.
Source: John Hudson, Stuart Lowe, Natalie Oscroft and Carolyn Snell, 'Activating policy networks: A case study of local environmental policy-making in the United Kingdom', Policy Studies, Volume 28 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Mar
A capability review found that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was clear about what it needed to do to ensure delivery of high-quality public services, and had shown itself capable of planning for delivery: but it needed urgently to improve its organizational performance.
Source: Capability Review of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Cabinet Office (020 7261 8527)
Links: Report | DEFRA press release | BBC report
Date: 2007-Mar
The Draft Climate Change Bill was published. The Bill proposed a series of clear targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions - including making targets for a 60 per cent reduction by 2050, and a 26 to 32 per cent reduction by 2020, legally binding. There would be a new system of legally binding 5-year 'carbon budgets' to provide clarity on the pathway towards key targets. A new statutory body, the Committee on Climate Change, would provide independent expert advice and guidance to government on achieving its targets and staying within its carbon budgets.
Source: Draft Climate Change Bill, Cm 7040, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Draft Bill | Summary | Consultation document | Hansard | DEFRA press release | Friends of the Earth press release | TUC press release | CBI press release | RTPI press release | Guardian report | FT report | Regeneration & Renewal report
Date: 2007-Mar
A report examined what kinds of local and community initiatives were most effective at influencing changes in behaviour and at what levels, and whether any lessons learned from these were transferable to the issue of climate change.
Source: Mark Letcher, Zoe Redgrove, Simon Roberts, Beth Longstaff and Amanda Inverarity, Mobilising Individual Behavioural Change through Community Initiatives: Lessons for Climate Change, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (08459 556000) and others
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Mar
The government began consultation on proposals to improve tax reliefs to assist with the decontamination of land and to encourage development of long-term derelict sites.
Source: Tax Incentives for Development of Brownfield Land: A consultation, HM Treasury (020 7270 4558)
Links: Consultation document
Date: 2007-Mar
A report by a committee of MPs said that the government had implicitly chosen the maximum limit of greenhouse gases suggested by the Stern Review - the level which Stern characterized as 'a dangerous place to be, with substantial risks of very unpleasant outcomes' - as the target to aim for.
Source: Pre-Budget 2006 and the Stern Review, Fourth Report (Session 2006-07), HC 227, House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Mar
A report by a committee of MPs said that key changes would be required to the system of regulatory impact assessments (RIAs) in order to achieve a fully integrated consideration of environmental impacts. All relevant environmental impacts should be identified and assessed within an RIA, including the economic and social costs of environmental damage. Each RIA should include a compulsory assessment of the carbon impact of the policy concerned.
Source: Regulatory Impact Assessments and Policy Appraisal, Third Report (Session 2006-07), HC 353, House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Mar
A report (by an official advisory body) examined the regulatory aspects of the Stern report on climate change, and expressed concern that 'hasty and inappropriate action' might be taken. It proposed seven tests which it said ought to guide policy-makers.
Source: Regulating to Mitigate Climate Change: A response to the Stern Review, Better Regulation Commission (020 7276 2142)
Links: Report | BRC press release | FT report
Date: 2007-Feb
The Mayor London announced a plan to cut London's carbon emissions by 60 per cent within 20 years. A quarter of London's electricity supply would be shifted from the national grid to local combined heat-and-power systems by 2025.
Source: Action Today to Protect Tomorrow: The Mayor's climate change action plan, Mayor of London (020 7983 4100)
Links: Plan | Summary | Mayor of London press release | Guardian report | Regeneration & Renewal report | FT report
Date: 2007-Feb
The government said that the debate on climate change science was over, and that international political agreement was urgently needed to combat global warming. This followed publication of a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) showing that global temperatures continued to rise, and that there had been an acceleration in the rate of changes observed.
Source: Press release 2 February 2007, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (020 7238 6000) | Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC-Sec@wmo.int)
Links: Defra press release | IPCC report | Met Office press release | BBC report
Date: 2007-Feb
A report said that the United Kingdom's real impact on global warming had been massively underestimated: millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases produced by some of the country's top companies were not being declared.
Source: Coming Clean: Revealing the UK's true carbon footprint, Christian Aid (020 7620 4444)
Links: Report | Christian Aid press release | Independent report
Date: 2007-Feb
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on environmental taxes. It said that the Treasury was fully involved in developing policies to tackle climate change, and was committed to implementing policies to encourage cost-effective emissions reductions across all sectors of the economy.
Source: Government Response to the Committee's Fourth Report of Session 2005-06 on Pre-Budget 2005: Tax, economic analysis, and climate change, First Special Report (Session 2006-07), HC 195, House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2007-Jan
A background paper prepared for the government's mid-term policy review examined trends in environmental and energy policy.
Source: Policy Review: Energy and the Environment, Strategy Unit/Cabinet Office (020 7276 1881)
Links: Background paper
Date: 2007-Jan
The government began consultation on a proposal that only carbon-offset schemes using officially recognized carbon credits would be awarded a new government stamp of approval. Certified credits were more reliable because the projects were scrutinized more carefully.
Source: Consultation on Establishing a Voluntary Code of Best Practice for the Provision of Carbon Offsetting to UK Customers, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (08459 556000)
Links: Consultation document | DEFRA press release | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2007-Jan