Carbon dioxide emissions rise despite climate change pledge

Britain's carbon dioxide emissions are expected to rise significantly in 2005 for the third year running and will reach the highest level since 1992, when the UK signed the Climate Change Convention at the Rio Earth Summit and pledged to combat global warming.

Energy statistics released by the Department of Trade and Industry show that oil and coal burning have both risen in the first five months of this year compared with the same period in 2004. As a result, carbon dioxide emissions are expected to rise by more than 2% this year, when they should be falling by at least 1% a year to reach Labour's 20% reduction target.

This will be an embarrassment to Tony Blair, who made tackling climate change his priority for the presidency of G8 and the EU this year, describing it as a greater threat to the world than terrorism.

In May's election manifesto the government firmed up its pledge to cut carbon dioxide levels by 20% on 1990 levels by 2010, despite the fact that ministers had conceded that with current measures the UK was not going to reach its targets. A review of policies had already been put in place last December after two years of rising emissions had rung alarm bells around Whitehall.

The review was due to be published in June but Margaret Beckett, the environment secretary, said it could not be ready in time and postponed publication. Yesterday her department said it was now expected to be published before the end of the year.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is also expected to announce "before the end of the summer" new building regulations to cut emissions from both new and refurbished older property, but these have been delayed after reports that the improvements had been watered down as "unnecessary gold plating".

The government claims to be a world leader in tackling climate change and Britain has been one of the few countries to stay on target to cut greenhouse gas emissions to meet its legally binding targets under the Kyoto protocol. The UK is still on target to reach its 12.5% cuts under Kyoto, but not the much harder 20% carbon dioxide target the government set itself as an example to show the world that cuts could still be made despite the fact that the economy was growing.

In the early 1990s the Conservative government made dramatic reductions in Britain's carbon dioxide emissions, partly as a result of closing coalmines and the switch to gas-fired electricity generation. Gas emits two-thirds as much carbon dioxide to generate the same amount of electricity as coal.

In 1992 the UK emitted 162.9m tonnes of carbon, and despite some fluctuations because of cold weather, emissions continued to fall until 1999, when they reached a record low of 151.7m tonnes. Since then figures have shown an upward trend and by the end of this year will have gone up to 161.2m tonnes - an increase of 4.7% since Labour came to power in 1997.

Emissions from oil increased by 9% in the first five months of this year, reflecting Britain's continued rise in road traffic and associated jams. Coal burning increased by just under 4%, showing the country's increasing use of electricity generation due to rising gas prices. As a result, emissions from gas - which remains the UK's main source of energy - fell by nearly 6%.

Martyn Williams, climate campaigner for Friends of the Earth, said: "The government has policies in place which help, and there are many things that could be done easily if there was the political will. The government just does not give this the same kind of priority as collecting taxes or economic growth, and until it does these targets are never going to be achieved.

"As things stand at the moment, emissions will just rise and rise and unless these new packages ministers are promising are properly backed by government action, the 20% target will never be reached."

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