Britain will not count carbon dioxide emissions reductions achieved during the economic downturn to meet its climate targets, according to Britain's Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband, reports Reuters.
The government has accepted the Committee on Climate Change's (CCC) recommendation to ignore carbon emission reductions achieved as a result of the economic downturn, reports Envido, an UK energy and carbon solutions company.
The first CCC report called for a "step change" in the pace of UK carbon emission reductions if the UK is to meet its goal of cutting carbon emissions of 34 percent by 2020, according to Envido.
Britain is expected to over-achieve its "carbon budgets" with an estimated 36 percent cut in emissions from 1990 levels by 2020, which was helped by the economic slowdown that reduced industrial output in 2008, resulting in 2 percent lower emissions, reports Reuters.
Miliband said any over-achievement in the first carbon budget due to the recession will not be carried forward to allow for higher carbon emissions in the next two carbon budgets, according to Envido.
A UK Parliament committee recommended that Britain moves to a 42 percent emissions cut by 2020 from 1990 levels, from its current goal of 34 percent, reports Reuters.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said that since the publication of its Low Carbon Transition Plan last summer, it had made significant progress.
However, in August last year, the latest report on Greening Government said Britain's government may miss its own public sector emission reduction targets set at 34 percent by 2020, from 1990 levels.
The government said it was also moving ahead with plans to ensure that no new coal-fired power plants are built without carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, reports Envido.
