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Nicholas Stern responds to decision about UK Fourth Carbon Budget

Posted on 22 Jul 2014 in

Responding to the announcement today that the UK Government will not be revising the Fourth Carbon Budget for the period 2023-27, Professor Lord Stern of Brentford, chair of the ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy and the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at London School of Economics and Political Science, said:

“It is good that the Government has followed the expert advice of the independent Committee on Climate Change. The decision not to weaken the budget should increase the confidence of private investors and provide a boost to UK economic growth. It is clear that there were no solid grounds for weakening the Budget. The Committee on Climate Change and other experts showed that the UK’s carbon budgets have not damaged its competitiveness and businesses have not been relocating to other countries to avoid reducing their emissions of greenhouse gases. Indeed, by reducing pollution and waste, and improving energy efficiency, UK companies are making themselves more competitive.

“This confirmation of the Budget provides greater clarity about the direction of UK policy. Energy security has moved still further up the political agenda and is a critical issue for Europe as a whole. Europe will become more energy secure by moving to low-carbon sources and reducing its dependence on imports of fossil fuels.

“This decision will also strengthen the international standing of the UK within Europe, and within the world more generally, as countries work towards an international agreement on climate change in Paris in December 2015.”

For more information about this media release, please contact Bob Ward on +44 (0) 7811 320346 or r.e.ward@lse.ac.uk.

 

NOTES FOR EDITORS

  1. The ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy (http://www.cccep.ac.uk/) is hosted by the University of Leeds and the London School of Economics and Political Science. It is funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (http://www.esrc.ac.uk/). The Centre’s mission is to advance public and private action on climate change through rigorous, innovative research.
  2. The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (http://www.lse.ac.uk/grantham) was launched at the London School of Economics and Political Science in October 2008. It is funded by The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment (http://www.granthamfoundation.org/).