Gordon Brown defends UK's record on global warming » Environment » 24dash.com

Chancellor Gordon Brown refused to commit to setting annual global warming targets today - and took a swipe at Tory leader David Cameron's record on the environment.

Mr Cameron warned last night that Britain's long-term climate change goals would not be met without year-on-year targets enforced by an independent body.

There is mounting pressure on the Government to include such measures in environmental legislation expected to be included in next month's Queen's Speech.

Mr Brown conceded that there remained "a great deal to do" and he promised to set out how he intended to tackle the issue when a major review is published next week.

But he pointed out that the UK is ahead of its long-term carbon emission targets and accused the Conservatives of hypocrisy on green issues.

"We have targets for 2010, for 2020 and for 2050 and, in fact, as far as the Kyoto targets, actually we are over-meeting them at the moment as far as the carbon emissions targets.

"Of course, we have got a great deal to do," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"When Nicholas Stern's report comes out next Monday, we will be setting out how we plan to meet these targets in the future and what legislative measures will be necessary to do so.

"At the same time, that will inform the pre-Budget Report and future Budgets."

He insisted he was committed to "green" taxes and added: "It would be better if the people who said they are committed to these green taxes voted when we had the climate change levy in favour of it instead of against it and voted for the air passenger duty, when instead of supporting it they voted against it."

Sir Nicholas Stern, a former chief economist with the World Bank, has been commissioned by the Treasury to examine the economic implications of climate change.

He is expected to warn that governments face financial ruin if they fail to tackle the issue.

Prime Minister Tony Blair came close to ruling out annual targets yesterday, saying they would be "very, very difficult" to meet.

The Government appears more likely to introduce long-term targets, possibly over a decade.

The Chancellor's comments came as Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell published a dossier of Government "failures" since 1997.

The Government's "woeful" record on the environment had seen carbon emissions rise by 3% and traffic levels by 11% since 1997, he said.

Meanwhile the cost of motoring had fallen by 9% while bus and coach fares had gone up 15% and rail tickets by 5%. Emissions from road transport had increased by 10% since 1990 and were projected to increase by 18% within four years.

The Liberal Democrats were "the only party with substantial proposals on cutting congestion and tackling pollution", he said ahead of a visit to Sutton where the Liberal Democrat council is to be the first London authority to pilot new measures to cut congestion.

The scheme aims to reduce dependency on cars by improving transport planning for schools, businesses and individuals.

Richmond upon Thames Council, in south west London, proposed a sliding scale of charges for parking permits yesterday, with people using electric cars paying nothing.

Those with the most environmentally-unfriendly vehicles, such as high-performance cars and 4x4s, would find their annual permit charge rising from £100 to £300.

Mr Brown said it was vital to see tackling climate change as a "huge opportunity" as well as a major challenge.

The Government is going to set up a "world institute of environmental technology" so the UK could lead the world in research.

"We must look at the environment not simply as the challenge we must meet so that we deal with the problem of carbon emissions, but a way we can manage the economy in a more environmentally-sustainable way that can actually create jobs for the future in Britain and perhaps bring us increased wealth as a result of us being able to provide the world with the new environmental technologies," he told Today.

Copyright Press Association 2006