A report released this week by the British Academy has branded UK green policies as inadequate because they do not take into account 'offshore’ emissions – those created by the UK economy through imports.
'
Climate Change and Public Policy Futures', written by former University of Bath professor
Ian Gough, calls for major alterations in the direction of Government
policy, arguing that the UK’s current market-centered approach to climate change is ineffective. Immediate changes are essential, Gough says.
"There is no 'magic bullet’ in climate change mitigation, but failure to act now will mean higher costs in the future," Gough said. "Policymakers in the future are going to have to reverse previous policy decisions and make much more integrated environmental and economic policy."
Though deindustrialisation of the country has led to carbon emissions falling 15 per cent since 1990, this number is countered by a 19 per cent increase in emissions made during the
production of imported goods, the report said.
Falling short
Gough acknowledges that the UK Climate Change Act 2009 was one of the world’s most demanding and legally binding commitments to
CO2 reduction, but he argues that its intentions to tackle emissions are falling short. Though UK goals to reduce carbon emissions 80 per cent from 1990 by 2050 are admirable, factors are working against these targets that have been unaccounted for.
According to Gough, 2050 goals are based on domestic, production-based emissions, meaning that the carbon footprints of goods imported into and consumed in Britain are not accounted for. This factor has a staggering effect on emissions numbers – in 2006, UK CO2 emissions were 33 per cent higher when offshore production of goods was taken into account, and emissions of all greenhouse gases were 51 per cent higher.
Currently, there is no mechanism within the Kyoto or UNFCCC frameworks that takes the problem of global emissions flow into account.
This is just one of the problems associated with the progression of public policy regarding climate change being stuck, Gough says. He argues that the three types of policy used to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions – economic incentives; information, education and behaviour change; and regulation aren’t being used effectively.
Economic incentivesPolicy based on economic incentives, which has been most commonly used, ultimately leads to an unfair amount of burden falling on households and raises issues of distributive justice, the report says. Subcategories of this type of policy, such as upstream cap-and-trade, mandated market solutions and planned
investment, carbon taxation and subsidies, are inadequate to meet UK targets, the report says. Legislation directed towards behavioural change and direct regulation has been given very little attention.
Green growthAccording to the report, the most realistic and potentially effective way forward for most countries and their economies is creating policy that works in coordination with a low carbon industrial revolution, which Gough calls "green growth."
This idea, which basically argues that environmental interests such as climate change mitigation can be incorporated within a successful capitalist economy, would require a great deal of support for low carbon
technology. This will drive the next technological revolution, the report says. Early innovation and investment in low carbon technology, the report says, will enhance national competitiveness and will cost less in the long run.
Though the UK prescribes to this viewpoint to a degree, changes need to be made, Gough says. An active Government implementing policy that is integrated across environmental, economic and social sectors of the country is needed in order for future climate change mitigation policy to be effective.
However, the report also adds that it newly emerging economies may be better suited to fashion their own path of development and public policy, as it may be impossible for them to follow the Western growth model that "green growth" is a part of.
Ultimately, the report says, radical thinking and action will be required as climate change transforms the future of public policy.
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